Three's Not Always A Crowd
by Yu Yu Hakusho Lover
Summary: After Hermione's dad abused her during the entire summer, will the love of her two friends be enough to bring her back to sanity? And why are Ron and Harry getting so much closer? HeHRon triangle [Given up on]
1. Friends Are There Forever

Okay, this is a RP between a friend of mine and me. Go and search 'Lady Death Angel' since this god damn thing won't let me do damn links. Well, her HP stories rock! Well, I've altered this and taken out the SNs but if you find a few, I'm realllyyyyyyyyyy sorry.

P.S. Read her stories! As you can tell, she's the one that does Harry and Ron and she's the one that's actually always in character

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A girl of 17 slowly stumbled onto the Hogwarts Express at two minutes until 11, when the train left. A dark purple hood covered her head almost totally, except for one thing; brown eyes were stressed and, other than that, were filled with sadness and despair. Ripped, tattered jeans were covering her pale legs, but tons of gashes that were barely scabbed over covered them. The hood that covered her head was attached to a hoodie, and it kept falling down one of her arms, hanging off the shoulder slightly. She didn't even seem to care but it was clear all she was wearing was that. The hood moved just enough that her used-to-be bangs were visible, but the old beautiful chestnut curly locks were now damaged, dead, short frizz.

She slowly climbed onto the train, and started to head down the hallway. Holding onto the wall with each step, she tried to balance herself. Everything hurt and she was on the verge of tears from just walking. But she needed to get down to her best friends so she kept walking. After a little while, only about 3 feet actually, she fell to the ground with a choked sob. Her feet were twisted at weird angles and they seemed to be smashed or cracked.

People were slowly coming out of their compartments at the sounds of sobbing. They all crowded around Hermione, whispering and staring.

Three people came out to help her though: Ginny, Neville, and Seamus. Seamus walked over and tried to help her up but got a huge slap to the mouth and his lip busted and he quickly stopped.

Neville followed and tried to help but soon got a bloody nose. He continued to try and help her up but was at an utter loss when he got slapped again and his lip busted.

Hermione didn't want to be touched, but it was hard to see why since she used to trust these people.

Ginny tried to walk over and help her up but got a scream of, "Don't touch me!" and a punch to the eye. She fell back, stunned, but soon got back up and tried again only to get the same result. Finally, Ginny managed to get a few inches away from Hermione and heard her crying Harry and Ron's name. Looking at Neville, she quickly said, "Get Ron and Harry, now."

Neville ran off, while putting his sleeve under his nose to try and stop the bleeding. Once he got to Harry and Ron's compartment, he stuck his head inside and with stunned eyes and the still-bleeding nose, said, "You do need do dee dis."

The two teens shared a look, shooting to their feet and sprinting out of the compartment. Harry stopped briefly to check on Neville, but was shushed and pushed into the aisle. They made their way through the crowd and, catching sight of Hermione, turned to shield her with their bodies and waved their arms.

"Get out of here, you nosy bastards," Ron said, while Harry just glared.

By the time they had come, Ginny was holding her mouth and crying heavily. A bit of blood was seeping through her hands, but she just stared at Hermione worriedly.

Another teen quickly shoved his way through the crowd, knocking a few students to the ground. With a smirk, the almost albino boy quickly said, "Looks like someone tried to 'tame' her, so to speak."

Hermione just continued to cry and didn't seem to notice anyone there.

"You get the hell out of here, Malfoy," Harry hissed. "We don't have time for this right now."

Ron would have added his own scathing remarks, but figured his best friend would handle it and knelt next to Hermione, whispering her name softly.

Hermione slowly looked up at Ron. With her face covered by the hood, it was hard to see what she was doing but her eyes easily stood out from the small darkness her hood created on her face.

Draco just smirked. "I'd rather stay, thanks. It's quite comforting to see someone's done what I was wishing for since I first laid my eyes on that mudblood."

Ginny slowly stood and looked at Ron and quickly removed her hand from her mouth, and then hastily wiped it with her sleeve. She was bleeding badly and it was clear she had to have lost at least one tooth.

Looking at Seamus, he seemed to read her mind and he quickly said, "Watch out that you don't touch her. She has a nasty swing.."

"Almost wish he would," Ron said over his shoulder. He'd seen her handiwork already, Seamus, Neville and his own sister all sporting the results of trying to touch her. Maybe she'd maim Malfoy since she didn't even like him. But, pushing that thought aside, he hooked his arms around her body. "I'm gonna carry you to our compartment, all right?" he said softly.

She started to panic and tried to push him away but after a moment, she realized it was him and just cried harder.

Seamus and Neville managed to start to get people to leave and Ginny went back to their compartment to try and stop the bleeding.

He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, walking to the compartment.

Harry watched him go, standing between him and Malfoy, glaring at the blonde. "You say one more thing about it and I _hear_ it," he hissed. "And you _will_ regret it."

"Oh what are you going to do? Little ickle Harry is going to beat me up?" He taunted, and Crabbe and Goyle quickly pushed people down and away to stand behind Draco.

Hermione just kept her face hidden, but she only weighed about 75-80 pounds in Ron's arms.

"If I have to. And believe me, I'll love every minute of it." he shot Draco a dismissive look, rolling his eyes at Crabbe and Goyle, past being daunted after six years with them.

"You know I'd have you on the ground in seconds," Draco growled out.

"Always knew you were a nasty pervert," Ron said before nodding his head at Harry. They both turned and made their way past Malfoy and his cronies to their compartment.

Draco growled, not having a nasty reply to throw back at them. He turned around and walked back off to his compartment, followed by Crabbe and Goyle.

Hermione just laid in Ron's arms, crying and curled into the tightest ball she could manage.

They looked at each other, green eyes mirroring the concern in blue. Once they were in the compartment, Ron sat down with her on his lap. "Hermione . . ." he asked hesitantly as Harry closed the sliding door. "What happened?"

She shook her head and tried to move away from him. Keeping her head down, she kept her eyes away from both of theirs. After a moment, she whimpered. "N-No more y-yelling.. N-no more h-hitting.. No m-more h-hurting.." she put her hands over her head and put her face in her knees so it couldn't be seen. Her feet were visible now and small bumps were over them, because broken bone was pushing against the skin in those places.

Harry knelt in front of her, laying his hands on her knees. "Hermione, what happened?" he asked in slow tones, trying not to let his worry seep into his voice. She was really scaring him. She looked awful . . . she looked like she'd been through hell.

She whimpered and jerked her legs away from him then bit her lower lip in pain. She kept her head down so they couldn't see her face. There was something she was trying to hide. "H-He said h-he's going to c-come and k-kill me i-if I l-left..."

"Who?" Harry asked urgently. He glanced up to see Ron staring at her with a pained look on his face, clearly at a loss as to what to do.

She started to shake and still kept her head to her knees so her words were mumbled. "M-Mum l-left and t-t-that w-was when h-he s-started.. s-she said she c-c-couldn't t-take it a-anymore.. s-she said s-she'd be b-back for me.. s-she l-lied.." she sobbed out.

Ron put a hand gingerly on her shoulder. "Hermione . . ." he swallowed hard. "Did your dad do this?"

Hermione suddenly let out what sounded like a muffled wail of pain and yanked her shoulder away. The hoodie fell so it showed that her shoulder was bruised extremely badly and on top of that, there was a large, deep wound on it. "H-He w-was so m-mean.. h-he said h-h-he was doing i-it b-b-because he l-loved me... h-h-he l-lied t-too.. e-everyone l-lied.."

Harry and Ron shared a look. "I'm going to get someone," Ron said haltingly, wide eyes turning back to the wound. "D'you need me to send someone else in?"

Harry shook his head. "No. Just go. I'll be fine." Ron rose, still staring at Hermione.

Hermione still cried heavily. She looked up at Ron with tears streaming down her cheeks and didn't notice until it was too late that the hood fell. She desperately tried to pull it back up but she was too late. Besides a large cut on her forehead, her once beautiful chestnut curly locks were now only an inch and a half above her shoulders, and also were frizzy and tangled.

Ron stopped short. "Hermione . . ." he breathed.

Harry, still kneeling at her feet, frowned. "What happened?" he asked softly, fingering her short curls.

"H-He got a-annoyed w-with it.. s-said it g-got o-only in the w-way.. h-he took s-s-scissors and cut a-almost a-all of it o-off.." she whispered and lowered her head back to her knees. "W-When I t-told him n-not to... h-he cut m-my f-forehead with t-the s-scissors.. and s-said if I c-c-complained, m-more would c-come.." she whimpered as the cut hit her knees but didn't raise her head. It still hurt at some points.

Harry didn't know what to say, just laid his hand on her curls, rubbing her head slowly, to calm her or himself he wasn't quite sure. He looked up, nodding at Ron to go and get someone and he gave a short nod in response, disappearing but not without looking sick at the prospect of leaving Hermione for more than a minute.

Hermione just continued to cry, and suddenly gave a louder cry of pain than before as he touched a certain spot on her head. If he looked, there was a really big bruise on it and he could probably feel a scab that was pretty big.

"We're getting you some help, Hermione," he said softly. "Okay? So don't cry, please." It hurt him to see her in this much pain.

Two cars away, Ron had cornered the witch with the trolley car. "Excuse me!" he said loudly. "Can you help us, please? Our friend's in trouble."

She turned with a frown. "What's that? Of course, I'll help. What happened?"

He shrugged helplessly as she followed him back to their compartment. "No idea. She's got all these cuts and bruises . . . really bad ones and she's been crying since she got on the train . . . I think it was her dad."

Hermione just continued to cry. She couldn't stop, she hadn't been able to stop for days except for when she cried herself to sleep. Suddenly, her hands slowly touched her feet and she started to talk, "I-I t-t-tried to e-escape o-once.. right a-after y-you c-called.." she had heard her father answer the phone half way through the summer and had overheard it was Harry. Her father made up some lie about why she wasn't returning the letters that him and Ron sent, and then hung up. She had tried to get away that night but it had failed, miserably. "I-I had h-heard b-because he l-locked me in the b-bathroom and l-let me t-take a two m-minute bath in b-burning w-water.. but.. h-he caught me.. a-and s-s-smashed my f-f-feet with a s-sledge h-hammer I t-think.." she whispered very quietly.

Harry's hands almost clenched in her hair, but he willed that not to happen, instead trying hard to breathe softly and slowly. What kind of bastard would do this to his daughter? Well, okay, he knew plenty of shitty fathers, enough to run a contest with a photo finish, but why then? Why would he do this? "Why?" he asked softly.

"H-Him and M-Mum were f-fighting a-and a-after she l-left, he k-k-kept saying i-if I was a g-g-good d-daughter, I-I w-w-wouldn't r-remind h-him of h-her.." she managed to say. She wasn't listening to many sentences but had faintly heard the simple question.

"God . . ."he said in quiet disgust as the door slid open.

The trolley-car witch entered the compartment, her look going from worried to severely distraught in the space of ten seconds. "Oh, dear," she murmured, rushing forward.

Harry moved quickly out of her way so that she could take his place in front of Hermione and look her over. He moved to stand by Ron, who looked pale. He rested a hand on his best friend's shoulder and got a sad smile in return.

Hermione just cried and suddenly panicked when the woman started to look her over. She whimpered and crawled away as fast as she could which managed to get her to fall to the ground. Her eyes were wild with fear and she let out a scream of pure pain when she hit the floor.

Harry and Ron both rushed forward, one on either side of her.

"Calm down," Harry said. "She's trying to help. You need her help. We're here. We aren't going anywhere."

Hermione just sobbed, terrified to let anyone else touch her other than her two best friends. When she had hit the floor, a small crack had sounded which wasn't surprising as almost every bone could be seen on her frail body.

The witch stood up. "I can't do much if she won't let me. Not much for healing anyway," she said softly, obviously distressed. "As soon as we get there, you two carry her off of the train and into the carriages. I'll have Madame Pomfrey waiting for you."

Hermione pulled her knees back up to her body and closed her eyes, wanting to go to sleep. She didn't want anyone but Harry and Ron to be around her and she couldn't remember the last time she had actually slept but she wasn't actually trying to recall anything that happened at her house.

Harry and Ron nodded, and the witch left with a pitying look at the girl between them.

"Hermione, maybe you should rest," Ron said softly. "You can get comfortable. Like Harry said, we aren't going anywhere."

Hermione closed her eyes, slowly relaxing and fell asleep.

By the time the train slowly rolled to their destination, Hermione was just waking up. She found herself with her head gently on Ron's lap and her legs on Harry's. After finally realizing where she was, she controlled herself from panicking and looked up at Ron then at Harry. Her eyes were unfocused and bloodshot, and also distressed.

Harry and Ron, who had forced themselves into talking about nothing looked down at her with small smiles they hoped looked encouraging.

"Hey there," Ron said. "How about we get you to the castle to get looked at, yeah?"

Hermione just closed her eyes, still somewhat tired. She didn't seem to respond but she was trying to make herself listen, even though it was hard to actually pay attention.

"I'll carry her," Ron said quietly to Harry as her eyes slid shut.

The dark-haired teen nodded and helped situate them both so they could walk comfortably as possible off of the train.

Hermione didn't move any, just kept her eyes shut. Nothing was running through her head except for how she was weirdly hungry. She had been forced to get used to not eating and barely ever got hungry, so she was slightly confused why.

Harry and Ron did their best to field away questions on the way to the carriages. Hermione was, thankfully, paying little attention to the hushed whispers surrounding them, and neither of them were in any position to get in any fights anyway. They really hoped that they didn't run into Malfoy. Ron couldn't do anything with his arms cradling Hermione, and Harry couldn't do anything because he was worrying so much.

Draco, unluckily for them, pushed his way through the crowd. "Really, it is a lot of an improvement about how she is acting and looking. Whoever did that _improvement_ to her should be highly credited," he said with a smirk.

Hermione either was sleeping or just lying in Ron's arms but it was hard to tell.

Ron glanced down at her and then back up at him. "Fuck off, Malfoy," he hissed, holding her closer to him.

"That's the best you can do?" he asked with the same smirk. "I expected so much higher... wait, no, never mind. You're a Weasley. The only one that is actually used to getting made fun of is your father, then again, he deserves it. You and your siblings just get small insults, not even close to what your family deserves."

Suddenly, Ginny tackled Draco to the ground and punched him square in the nose. "I'm sick of you talking about our family! At least we have one! Your parents don't even look at you like a damn child! More like an annoyance and an unwanted houseguest!" In the past 6 years, many times, she had overheard things that Lucius or Narcissa had said the few times that they had visited Hogwarts. And unluckily for Draco, right then Crabbe and Goyle were trying to see if they could get any food from the trolley before they actually went to Hogwarts, so Draco was forced to fend for himself.

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So how'd you like? Not much of a cliffhanger and there WILL be more or I will personally cry. Um… yeah.. This was slightly rushed, and don't ask why… well it seemed rushed but it wasn't really because it was so short. So, yeah, next chapter is gonna be huge. HUGE I SAY! …O.O Sorry.


	2. Some Wounds Are Deeper Than The Skin

Okay, Bridgette was a doll! …Did I just say doll? Whatever. Okay, she stayed on for like 3 hours! ::hug:: Well, this is from one RP session. It might take longer if you guys want longer… BUT I DID UPDATE, AS PROMISED!  
  
Disclaimer: Forgot to do this last time. The book that the wonderful J.K. Rowling has made never was Bridgette's or mine; never will be Bridgette's or mine; it isn't Bridgette's or mine. Well, no, it isn't right for me to say that it never will be Bridgette's because… yeah, I'm not her. But it certainly never will be mine because I'm never gonna be rich.

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Harry and Ron stared in shock at little Ginny attacking Draco Malfoy. It was, quite possibly, the best thing either had ever seen. Except, perhaps, Hermione walking out on a shocked Professor Trelawny, but even so, this had to come in a close second. If the situation hadn't been so serious, they'd have stuck around and laughed their collective arse off. Instead, they climbed into the carriage awaiting them.   
  
Hermione hadn't seemed to even notice but just laid her Ron's arms. If she had looked up, she would have seen a great scene: Ginny fighting with Draco and it appeared that she was winning, with Crabbe and Goyle in the background, unsure of what to do. They had no clue since she was a girl and younger and they had food in their arms and… no, it was mostly they had food in their arms.  
  
Once in the carriage, Harry and Ron sat next to each other, arranging Hermione so that she would be comfortable. They didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. Instead they just watched the landscape sweep past the window.  
  
Hermione's eyes just stared at the ceiling of the carriage emptily, as she thought about what the top must be made of.  
  
When they finally got to the castle they were greeted by Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, both of whom took one look at Hermione and exchanged dark looks.  
  
"I'll need to look at her right away," Pomfrey said. "You boys follow me and be gentle!"  
  
Hermione closed her eyes, quite comfortable in Ron's arms. Even though she shook slightly every time Ron took a step, she wasn't laying on cold concrete, but instead in warm arms.  
  
Ron and Harry found themselves in the hospital wing sooner than they anticipated and were relieved to be able to lay Hermione on a bed knowing she would be looked after.  
  
"I want you boys to stay," Pomfrey said sternly, moving about quickly. "I need to tend to her and she'll be more comfortable with you around, from what I hear. But be gentle and do as I say." They both nodded and she bent over Hermione. "Honey, can you hear me?"  
  
Hermione looked up at Pomfrey and whimpered, starting to back away. She could hear her fine but the problem was her actually listening. After looking at Harry and Ron and having them usher for her to not be worried, she looked back at Pomfrey and waited a moment for the sentence to sink in and slowly gave a very minute nod.  
  
Pomfrey smiled at her. "Good. Now, I need you to tell me what hurts," she said. "And what happened to make it hurt."  
  
She shook her head quickly and put her forehead to her knees, curling into a ball. She didn't want to remember…  
  
Pomfrey shot a sharp look to Harry and Ron who both opened their mouths to speak, but were interrupted by Dumbledore.  
  
He'd been standing to the side, having asked the other professors to stand in for him in the Great Hall until he could steal away to say a few words and end the feast. He was afraid she might react this way. From what they had been told, she was trying very hard to avoid the subject of what had happened and why. But he knew that holding it in wouldn't make it any better in the morning, so he leaned in close to her. "Miss Granger," he said softly. "I know it's hard and you want to forget, but the best course of … the fastest way to_ heal_ is to face it and let go and that can't happen if you don't tell us."  
  
Pomfrey glared at him. "If she doesn't want to tell don't make her Albus," she said sternly. "I only need to fix her up. It would have simply been easier..."  
  
He silenced her with a look.  
  
Hermione couldn't handle any men except for Ron and Harry to be that close right then and she instinctively threw her hand out, and slapped Dumbledore on the face. She only wanted him to get away…  
  
Madam Pomfrey let out a hiss that sounded like a cross between 'concern' and 'I told you so'.  
  
Ron leaned over Hermione, trying to calm her down while Harry fought the urge to glare at the Headmaster. Funny how things had changed. Years ago he would have been affronted that Hermione'd slapped Dumbledore. Years ago when he'd still looked up to him. But things had changed since his fifth year, and while Ron and Hermione still looked up to him, Harry didn't. He just didn't have a need for a father-figure or a hero anymore.  
  
Hermione started to cry and pulled her knees to her chest.  
  
"I'll never be able to heal her at this rate and her injuries are extensive!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "I need to be able to look her over properly and she's too distressed at the moment."  
  
Dumbledore simply looked at her sadly. "Perhaps you're right," he turned to Harry and Ron. "Try to talk to her. She needs to talk about it. And now, I have some full and happy children to send off to bed," he left.  
  
Hermione just cried, and didn't raise her head. "S-She said he w-w-wouldn't h-hurt me e-either..." she managed out. "H-He s-said it t-too... it w-was a t-total l-lie..."  
  
"Shhh," Ron murmured. "I know, Hermione. But... we'd never lie, right? Harry and I are honest."  
  
"Yeah. To a fault even. In Ron's case."  
  
Ron glared at him and Harry shrugged with a tentative grin. "So, let Madam Pomfrey look after you, okay? We'll be right here and you'll feel loads better."  
  
Hermione whimpered. "N-No one e-e-else is g-going to t-touch m-me..." she whispered. "N-No o-one... n-not e-except for y-you and H-Harry..."  
  
They looked at each other and then at Madam Pomfrey who was gnawing at her lip, trying to find a way around Hermione's fear.  
  
Finally Harry spoke. "Well... what hurts?" he asked. "And... how did it happen? Maybe we can help."  
  
"E-Everything..." she whispered, and didn't respond to the second question. She was trying to block it out; she just wanted to forget.  
  
Again they shared a look and Pomfrey left, rummaging for potions that might help.  
  
Finally Harry took a deep breath. He didn't want to make her remember, he really didn't. But he knew she was in pain, knew she could be in danger if there was internal bleeding and she just wasn't talking to them. Moving in as close as Ron had been he lowered his voice until only the three of them could hear it. "Look, Hermione, you have to tell us. You're in a lot of pain, right?"  
  
Hermione whimpered. Slowly, she nodded. "H-He..." she trailed off. She wasn't sure if she was ready; she wasn't sure if she could.  
  
Ron glared at Harry. "Don't make her do it if she doesn't want to!" he hissed.  
  
Harry just shook him off. "We can help make the pain go away if we know what happened," he told her.  
  
Ron cursed under his breath. "Harry, I swear if you don't stop..."  
  
"But you have to talk to us," he continued. "We need to know to make it better." And maybe he wasn't talking about the injuries anymore. Maybe he was talking about her on the inside. He didn't want her all twisted like he was because he'd spent the first eleven years of his life saying nothing about his pain. Ron didn't understand it. Ron trusted too easily and spoke his mind in anger or fear or happiness.  
  
Hermione whimpered. "I-I t-t-trusted h-him..." she whispered after a lengthy silence. "H-He u-used to be t-there to m-make me f-feel b-better... h-he u-used to be t-there to c-cheer me u-up... I-I j-just w-want it l-like it w-was..."  
  
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Harry covered it with his hand, reducing him to unintelligible mumbles. "Your father," Harry said, more statement than question.  
  
She slowly gave a nod then started to cry harder.  
  
Ron's lips were moving furiously against Harry's palm again, but a quick glance down told him that he wasn't angry with him anymore. He was ready to rip Hermione's father to pieces now. "H-how," Harry halted and had to clear his throat. "How did he hurt you?"  
  
She was silent for what seemed like ages but was only a matter of moments, then slowly began to talk. The crying had stopped and there was no real emotion in her voice. "Frying pan to the head and ribs... brooms... I think a few times a metal bat... cracked a chair over me once... used razors, knives, anything sharp he could find all the time... also found it enjoyable to use his fist and foot... a belt a few times... broke a few plates over my head..." No emotion filled the words, except for what seemed to signal that she felt dead inside.  
  
Ron cursed as loudly as he could, but with a hand muffling his words he couldn't be heard.  
  
Luckily Harry voiced his opinions and he looked up at his friend appreciatively. "Fuck," he hissed. "So probably a lot of broken bones and cuts then.." he was talking mostly to himself.  
  
"I think... he tried to poison me..." she whispered quietly. After a few seconds, she began to cry again as it all played over in her head.  
  
Harry saw her withdrawing into herself as did Ron. Taking his hand away, Harry moved swiftly to take her face between his hands. "Tell us Hermione," he said urgently. "Don't disappear. Just tell us what you see. We'll take some of the pain, just give it to us."  
  
Ron swallowed hard and took her hand between his, resting his head on the pillow beside hers, letting Harry say what he wanted to but would have botched up.  
  
Hermione's eyes slowly met his. She looked like she was going to break down... and almost like she wanted to kill herself. "I-I t-tried... I d-did... but he c-caught me... I j-just to e-escape... he b-beat me u-until I c-couldn't move..." she whispered so quietly that it was a strain to hear.  
  
"Bloody bastard," Ron grated out. "I'll kill him. I'll kill him right now. Just tell me where and I'll tear him limb from bloody limb. Better yet, I'll gift-wrap him and send him on to Death Eaters. They hate Muggles, they can have fun with him."  
  
Harry thought about trying to calm him down and decided he wanted to do that and worse, so what was the point. Ron would always vocalize what he wanted to say but couldn't for fear of... he didn't know what. Besides, Hermione needed to know what they were willing to do for her.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes tight and just leaned into Harry. Her left arm hit the bed just right that the sleeve moved up. A ton of long cuts on the vein were visible and she didn't seem to notice.  
  
Ron took her arm in his hands, a disgusted, worried, pained look on his faces as he ran his fingers over the incisions. "Let Madam Pomfrey look at you," he said softly, his voice hoarse. "Please," and then it broke all together, on that one word.  
  
She whimpered and shook her head. She tried to yank her arm back and hide it, as if she was hoping Harry hadn't seen it at least. "I-I just w-wanted it t-to s-s-stop..." she whispered, as if the simple explanation would make it okay.  
  
"You did these," Ron said, understanding dawning. "You tried to... kill yourself?"  
  
Harry looked at his friends sharply.  
  
"I-I just... it... b-but..." she whimpered. After a small moment, the tears had stopped again and the memory played over and over. "He... everything fell apart. I didn't do it for so long because the thought of who would take care of Crookshanks was there... he was the only one there... he kept me sane... it was like I could talk to him and could trust him... then... my father killed him... right in front of my eyes. He skinned him... I wanted to die... I tried... he beat me so I couldn't move..." she closed her eyes as if trying to stop the memory.  
  
So, that was the escape she kept talking about. The one that had been foiled. There wasn't anything to say. Neither of them had any idea how to even get what they were thinking and seeing in their heads to work into words, let alone coherent sentences. Ron kept mouthing like a fish, opening and closing and letting out strained noises, while Harry was completely still, fighting back the anger that always wanted to consume him.  
  
"I think he tried to kill me with the poison... but it wasn't enough... I wish it had..." she finally whispered and broke into sobs.  
  
Madam Pomfrey, who had left the three alone to talk feeling like an intruder, made her way slowly over after several minutes of silence. "Can I look after her now?" she asked.  
  
The two boys looked at each other and then back at her, lost.  
  
And she thought of how many times she'd seen these three in here, looking lost. Harry moreso than the others. Harry who was so stoic and tried to be so strong but would always be that pale first-year student rushed in, near death and weaker than anyone she'd treated since, perhaps, Remus Lupin. Ron and Hermione, though, were his rock and when one was in a bed and he was not, he wasn't so stoic. Second year, she recalled vividly. And fifth. And again, now.  
  
Hermione whimpered when Madame Pomfrey walked towards her. She wasn't crawling away this time but looked terrified.  
  
"I won't hurt you, honey," she said, holding up her hands. "I only want to help. I can give you a potion, if you'd like. You'll sleep through the healing. If it'll be easier."  
  
Hermione buried her head into her knees when she said the word 'sleep.' "N-No!" she sobbed out.  
  
"O-okay," Madam Pomfrey said slowly. "Um... you'll need to get undressed. I can't fix everything if I can't see everything." She hated the way her voice shook. She'd been doing this for years and was very good at it. She held her authority well and didn't take no for an answer from anyone. But... here she was, at a loss.  
  
Hermione whimpered and after a moment, she slowly started to pull the hoodie off. For some reason, she didn't even seem to care that Ron or Harry were still there. Her upper body was completely black and blue, and it was very hard to see any undamaged skin. Cuts and deep wounds were everywhere and bumps were all over where her ribs were, as almost everyone was broken. Something looked to be written on her stomach in cuts but she had scratched at it so much that it was a mostly unrecognizable, and her back was one complete wound.  
  
Three gasps went up, followed by two very masculine voices stringing curses together in a way that Pomfrey hadn't heard since Fred Weasley had broken both his legs falling from a broom his second year. She, herself, wanted to curse loudly but had no real talent for it and settled herself with tending the wounds. She cleaned them, aware of the boys looking at Hermione's body in abject terror but knowing that she wouldn't get the job done if she turned them away.  
  
Hermione looked down, flinching at moments. A few times, she looked like she wanted to scream, whether it was from fear or pain it was hard to tell. She was completely topless and didn't seem to even care that her two best friends were watching, but it somehow made her feel better knowing that they were there.  
  
It took a while. Madam Pomfrey cleaned ever cut, scrape, deep or otherwise and then used special salves that had the skin healing itself before their eyes. She waited for nearly thirty minutes until her visible torso was completely healed, ever incision just white marks that were fading, every bruise red flesh that wasn't hurting. "Could you roll over dear?" she asked softly.  
  
Hermione slowly rolled over and laid on her stomach so her back was facing up. She hadn't told either of her friends what happened to her back because she tried to make herself forget, but slowly, she was remembering.  
  
Harry and Ron saw her shaking and Ron leaned forward this time. "Stay with us, Hermione," he ordered softly. "Whatever you see, tell us, okay? You're not alone anymore."  
  
She closed her eyes, whimpering softly. "H-He got so m-mad at m-me... it w-was a-after I t-tried to e-escape... he g-grabbed a b-beer b-bottle and b-broke it... t-then r-raked it a-a-across my b-back... o-over and o-over..."  
  
"That vile man," Madam Pomfrey spat, causing Harry and Ron to look up at her. She was shaking slightly, using a hot cloth to clean and soften the nasty wounds that made Hermione's back little more than blood and shredded skin. "If I ever saw him..." she trailed off and frowned viciously.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes tightly. Pieces of glass were embedded into her back, and she very quietly whispered, "I'm s-sorry..." for some reason.  
  
"You've nothing to be sorry for," Madam Pomfrey scolded, using her wand to remove the glass still in her flesh. "And I'm sure these to young men agree with me."  
  
Hermione closed her eyes. "I m-miss C-Crooks-shanks..." she whispered quietly. She was used to falling asleep with him at her side, or with her hugging him close to her chest and crying into his fur.  
  
"I know," Ron said softly. "Stupid cat. He grew on me, though," he was trying to distract her, thinking of things to say that would fill the silence... he just didn't want to mess up like he always seemed to.  
  
"H-He took h-him f-from me w-when I w-was s-sleeping and b-broke a g-glass vase o-over my h-head to w-wake me... t-then s-ski... s-s-skin..." she was shaking badly and buried her face into the pillow, beginning to cry loudly.  
  
"Hermione.." Ron started but what could he say? Nothing. He couldn't say anything because he didn't know what to say. He was lost. Harry was too.  
  
Madam Pomfrey had applied salves and the skin was healing.  
  
Hermione continued to cry. Slowly, she turned her head so she could breathe and whispered, "He's g-going to c-c-come..." very quietly. She quickly buried her head back into the pillow but did it at an angle where she couldn't breathe.  
  
"He won't," Harry said.  
  
"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Muggles can't find this place. Besides, if he does it won't be so bad. We'll skin him for you. Avenge Crookshanks. Maybe we can talk Fred and George into developing something to skin people. Slow and painful."  
  
Hermione didn't seem to respond or move her head from the pillow. She was hearing everything but wasn't completely sure if she actually wanted him dead...  
  
"That's all healed now," Madam Pomfrey said. "We'll fix your legs up next. In the meantime, _accio_," she summoned a soft shirt a few sizes too big but comfortable and handed it to her. "I'll be right back."  
  
Hermione slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, facing her friends. Gently, she slipped on the shirt and only half a second after she had, Ginny and Draco were carried into the hospital wing, Draco being held by Snape and Ginny by McGonnagal as they both tried their best to bite their teachers and escape to kill the other. Draco was missing a few teeth, and also had a twisted arm but Ginny had a broken arm, a broken jaw and a sprained wrist. That was only because Crabbe and Goyle had interjected after a moment and had started to beat Ginny up until Neville and Seamus stopped them. Those four were brought in after them, but on stretchers that were floating in mid air. All four were knocked out too.  
  
"Holy shit," Ron breathed.  
  
"Mister Weasley that is quite unappreciated at this moment," McGonnagal said sternly. "Poppy, I'm afraid these six need to be looked at. Troublesome students... detention for _at least_ half a year and is it really appropriate for you boys to be sitting with a bare-breast girl? What's going on?"  
  
Hermione looked over at them and just watched blankly, not really even caring as Ginny and Draco continued to kick and hurl their fists at each other.  
  
Draco accidentally kicked Snape in a certain spot, which got him free, and Ginny managed to weave her way free, and the two tackled each other again. They were pissed and wanted the other dead. Punches, kicks, and slaps were thrown from each, each person ignoring their broken or damaged bones.  
  
Hermione gave a whimper as she watched, and looked down as she tried to control herself from crying for some reason.  
  
Harry leaned forward, buttoning up the overlarge shirt quickly while Ron surreptiously cheered his little sister on.  
  
Pomfrey was glaring at the entire scene with McGonnagal yelling and Snape hissing in pain and it was a madhouse. "You will all shut up right NOW!" Madam Pomfrey yelled shrilly. "I've got a young woman who was literally in tatters not moments ago and I still haven't finished healing her. If you don't all calm down and shut up this instant, I will use a full-body bind and roll you out of this room until I am finished! Do I make myself clear?!"  
  
Ginny and Draco didn't seem to even pay attention to Pomfrey as Ginny quickly tried to break Draco's neck, which got Draco to try and choke her. Ginny finally angled her knee right and kneed him right in the balls and Draco let his grip loose on her to yell in pain.  
  
Hermione put her forehead to her knees and began to sob for some reason.  
  
That was it. Madam Pomfrey scrambled for her wand, but Harry just pulled his from his back pocket and two _petrificus totalus_ later, had grabbed Ron's hand and tugged him over. "That's it. You're leaving," he said, bending with a grunt to grab Malfoy's feet and drag him out.  
  
"At least this way they won't hurt themselves," Snape said, his oily voice a bit more ragged than usual.  
  
As the hospital wing cleared out Madam Pomfrey moved to Hermione. "I'll have a look at your legs when you're ready."  
  
After a few moments, Hermione raised her head and looked at Madame Pomfrey. She slowly pulled her jeans down, the shirt covering certain parts. Her legs resembled her upper body except her legs were oddly burned almost everywhere, and the other spots were cut or bruised.  
  
Madam Pomfrey was in clinical mode now, and went about cleaning and applying salves quickly and efficiently. Hermione's feet, however, worried her. Broken bones, definitely. Possibly all of them. With a cringe she grabbed her wand and tapped the feet, muttering a spell that would heal them quickly.  
  
Hermione looked away, gazing out the window. Her eyes were distant and a bit empty.  
  
Harry and Ron rushed back in and to her side, holding her hands and waiting for her to heal. Within the hour her body was as good as new.  
  
Madam Pomfrey had given her a potion to help with any internal injuries and had gone back to heal any other broken bones she'd overlooked. "You should stay here the night," she said softly. "But with the ruckus those two are bound to put up I'll leave you with a silencing spell to block them out." She looked at Harry and Ron who were staring back with twin looks of dread and hope. "Stay the night," she said. "It'll help her rest." She summoned them pajamas and extra pillows and blankets. "Now, rest, all of you." And she left to attend to the rambunctious and paralyzed patients outside.  
  
Harry and Ron watched as Hermione closed her eyes and they both sighed. They hoped she would be able to fall asleep. She needed to rest. So they watched, waiting for her breath to regulate itself into the rhythm of sleep and murmured softly to her whenever she moaned in fear.  
  
Finally, she let sleep over wash her but a few times, let out small noises of fear as she remembered.  
  
"We should get some sleep too," Ron muttered. Harry snorted and Ron smiled weakly in response. "Yeah, I know. Like hell, right?"  
  
Harry nodded. "I really want to kill that bastard right now," he muttered, brushing stray curls from her forehead gently.  
  
"I still think we should let the Death Eaters have him," Ron said.  
  
"Unless they accept him with honors for doing this to her," Harry said with a frown. "Lucius would probably love him for this. Even more than his son."  
  
"It's a good thing Ginny took care of him for us," Ron said. "I mean, I wanted to be the one to knock his teeth out but . . . we were a bit busy."  
  
Harry nodded with a small smile. "Remind me to buy her a drink next time we're in Hogsmeade."  
  
Ron chuckled slightly and the rest of the night was spent watching over Hermione and talking about everything and nothing.

* * *

How'd you like? There'll be more soon. Promise.  
  
Btw, I will beta this but I've been up since 3PM and it's 7AM right now and I'm somewhat tired. So I'll do it later today. So ignore the mistakes.  
  
Also, thank you to my great reviewers. If 5 people review in the next two days (GOOD reviews), I'll put up a new chapter within two days. If under 5, then a week.


	3. Water Can Be Thicker Than Blood

Well, here you go.  
  
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply

* * *

When morning finally rolled around, the annoying sun awoke Hermione. She looked over at Ron and Harry and saw that they had finally fallen asleep. Slowly, she slipped out of the bed and used Harry's wand to quickly clean her old clothes then changed into them. Quietly and undetected, she walked out of the hospital wing. She just wanted to go somewhere, and since it was pretty early, few people were up, if any.   
  
Ron didn't know when he eventually drifted off, but when he finally woke up the sun was shining and Hermione was missing. He cursed and sat up, rubbing his eyes and shaking Harry awake. "She's gone," he said as soon as his friend looked lucid enough to understand.   
  
"What the hell was she thinking?" Harry asked, standing up.   
  
"Don't know," Ron said, standing as well. "But we'd better find her."  
  
Hermione slipped out of prefect's bathroom, ringing her hair dry and not caring that the hall was now wet where she had rung out her hair. She slowly made her way outside, not really caring where she was walking but was heading towards Hagrid's hut. Unknown to her, she was walking on a path that was pretty hard to spot her from the castle.   
  
Harry and Ron spent about two minutes of being stupid and planned where they would search before they both realized at roughly the same time that, why didn't they remember before, the Marauder's Map was sitting in Harry's trunk in their dorm. They rushed to the Fat Lady, Ron muttering the password.   
  
"My, my," she said with a mischievous smile. "Where have you two been all night?"   
  
"None of your business," Ron snapped irritably.   
  
"Fine! Hmph! Maybe they should teach you students a class on manners..."   
  
Hermione finally got to the steps of the hut and sat on one, looking around silently. She had no clue why she was here but the brisk morning air on her felt great.  
  
Hagrid, who had been going over his lesson plan while taking Fang for a morning stroll, noticed Hermione on the steps and smiled broadly. "Well, hello there!" he said. "Good ter see yeh up and about. Heard yeh was in the hospital wing. Had a bad time of it, did yeh? But yer feeling better now and just in time. Got a lesson plan that could use some looking over."  
  
Hermione looked up at him and managed in falling off the steps as she tried to scramble away. It wasn't registering who he was, and even if it did, she would still have been terrified. Harry's wand fell out of her pocket and she looked at it, faintly remembering she put it in her pocket but thankfully, she could remember no spells or jinxes at the moment.   
  
Harry and Ron were almost to Hagrid's hut when they saw her clutching Harry's wand and Hagrid backing away slowly.   
  
"So, she still won't talk to anyone but us," Ron said as they sprinted the rest of the way down the hill. "At least she hasn't gotten any worse."   
  
Harry just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, wonderful. But how is she gonna make it through the day? It's not like we chose the same classes."   
  
"Never thought I'd say this," as they drew close enough for Hermione to see them. "But I wish I was in Arithmancy."  
  
Hermione had tears in her eyes and when she saw Ron and Harry, she started to cry and shake slightly.  
  
"Hey, you're all right," Ron said, rushing to her side. "Okay? You're okay. We're here."   
  
Harry bit his lip and turned to Hagrid. "It's a bit hard to explain, but she's not really... er... comfortable with anyone but Ron and I," he explained.  
  
Hagrid nodded slowly. "Kinda figured," he said. "Well, you lot will take good care of our little Hermione. In the meantime, I'll see yeh tomorrow at class." He looked a little shaken, but made his way into the cottage without further comment.  
  
Hermione cried and closed her eyes tight, quickly pulling her legs to her forehead. The wand was quickly dropped to the ground and Hermione didn't seem to care or notice.  
  
"D'you want to go back up to the dorm?" Ron asked, putting his arms around her hesitantly. "Or we could go for a walk or... something. You probably don't have to go to classes today, you know. So we can do anything you want."  
  
Hermione slowly calmed down and gave a small whimper into his chest. After a few uneasy moments, she whispered, "Hungry..."  
  
Ron's face broke into a relieved smile and a soft sigh told him Harry felt the same. "That we can take care of."   
  
"Maybe not the Great Hall, though," Harry said. "We can eat in the dorms if you'd feel better there."  
  
Hermione didn't reply. She didn't care where she ate, as she just wanted to eat.  
  
"Right, well, let's at least see how Ginny's doing," Ron suggested. "If you get uncomfortable, we'll leave."  
  
It seemed a good enough plan to Harry, so Ron and Hermione rose and the three made their way back to the castle.  
  
Hermione walked silently, enjoying the feeling of being able to actually walk. She looked at the ground most of the time though, like she wasn't allowed to look up.  
  
"Hey," Harry said, grabbing her hand and squeezing gently. "You okay? I mean, considering?"  
  
Hermione didn't really reply, just continued walking and not looking up.  
  
"We'll take that as a non-answer," Ron muttered, which made Harry grin despite the situation.   
  
They entered the Great Hall just as the mail was arriving and found seats beside Ginny and Neville, across from Seamus and Dean.  
  
Hermione cautiously sat between Ron and Harry and looked down at the table. Neville, Ginny and Seamus all shared cautious glances.   
  
"Hey," Ginny said softly to Hermione.   
  
Hermione just ignored the voice and looked at the owls that were flying in. The fact that most of them were people's pets reminded her of Crookshanks and she felt on the verge of tears again.  
  
"Here," Ron said, having made her a plate. "Why don't you eat something?"  
  
Hermione took it and quickly started eating ravenously, ignoring the six stares she was getting. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually eaten something other than junk food she had managed to grab from her kitchen and she felt like it might be taken away from her.  
  
"You can slow down, you know," Seamus commented.   
  
Harry threw him a look and he looked down sheepishly. "She's been through a lot. Besides, you eat like this every day. It's not so different."  
  
Ginny delivered a hard kick to Seamus' shin, getting a gasp and a sharp glare from the teen that almost asked, 'Why?' She was annoyed that he actually said that and then looked at the trio.   
  
Hermione soon finished, after eating only about half. But from not eating, her stomach had shrunken so she wasn't anywhere as hungry as she usually was.   
  
"So... Draco's still in the hospital wing. Surprised I'm not... those bloody git's goons attacked me," Ginny said, trying to start up any conversation.   
  
"Yeah!" Ron said, having forgotten the fact. "You know, they're really asking for it this year. If we wouldn't get caught, I'd say a bit of payback is in order," he said.   
  
"Personally," Harry told them all. "A bit of payback is in order either way, in my opinion."  
  
Ginny smiled a bit. She was about ready to say something before Dumbledore walked up to them.   
  
"Can I see you three in my office?" he asked Hermione, Ron and Harry. The normal glitter in his eyes wasn't there but a small flicker of anger was.   
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a look before they stood and followed him out of the Great Hall. Ginny and Seamus tried to catch their eyes on the way out, but Harry just waved them off and Ron grabbed Hermione's hand since she looked terrified. He smiled down at her, and Harry took to her other side with a smile of his own.  
  
Dumbledore slowly walked to his office. Right before he said the password, he turned around. "Under no circumstances do I want you to let her run, alright?" A certain weariness seeped through his words.  
  
His cryptic words made Harry and Ron shudder.   
  
"What..." Harry started to say but trailed off.   
  
"And under no circumstances do I want you two to do anything... that could put us in a worse situation. Do you understand? I mean it. Don't do anything." His voice left out even the smallest want to argue, and Hermione was just squeezing Ron's hand gently as she looked away and out the window, terrified.  
  
The two boys, having been effectively cowed, nodded. They weren't sure if they'd be able to actually do nothing though. This was Hermione, their best friend. She'd done so much for both of them and meant more to either of them than almost anything. They didn't want to see her hurt and if this meeting was going to hurt her... they might do something stupid.  
  
Dumbledore turned and said the password. He headed to his office, and heard the three teens following. As soon as they all entered, he quickly locked the door with a spell.   
  
In one of the chairs facing away from them stood a middle-aged man and turned towards them. His eyes were filled with anger but on his face was plastered a fake warm smile.   
  
Hermione screamed and tried to run out of Ron and Harry's grasp.  
  
Ron saw it coming and moved in front of her so that she ran into him instead. He closed his arms around her and tried to calm her down. "Hermione, shhh, okay?" But he was no more calm than she was, and the rigid way that Harry held himself told Ron that he wasn't as calm either.  
  
Hermione just tried to escape from Ron's arms and finally collapsed into them, sobbing. "No, no, no, no, no..." she kept repeating.   
  
Dumbledore looked to them and then at Hermione's father.   
  
"Now, can I take my daughter back to our house? She's obviously mentally scarred..." he said.   
  
Dumbledore raised a brow. "Yes, and you never explained why she is."   
  
"She got into a car accident during the beginning of the summer. A very bad one. She was in a coma for the duration of it and awoke only a few days before the school year started. She has it stuck in her mind that I did this to her, which clearly came about from her accident. I don't know why but it has... probably her mother told her to think that, since she seems to hate me now due to our recent divorce. Well, Hermione now has much brain damage. I wanted her to stay home this year due to her condition, and she kept trying to escape, so I finally locked her in her room. But the morning that the train left, she used something to break the window and well... she managed to escape."   
  
"Bullshit," Harry hissed. Dumbledore shot him a look but he didn't care.   
  
"Mr. Potter I do believe that is unnecessary," the old man said sternly.   
  
Harry glared at him. "It's not. But," he turned back to the man by the window. "What kind of accident was it then? If it's not bullshit, what happened to her?"  
  
Mr. Granger's teeth seemed to clench in anger but he willed himself to look fine again. "Well, she's 17. She got her license. She drove over to an old friend's house and I guess her friend's brother got them vodka. She got drunk and tried to drive home and lost control of the car, then ran into an oncoming car when she accidentally drove in the wrong side of the road."   
  
Hermione just shook her head frantically and tried to run again.  
  
Ron, who was grappling with Hermione and cursing under his breath nearly laughed with relief when Harry spoke up.   
  
The dark-haired boy's grin was fierce and he crossed his arms. "Well then, Mr. Granger, I still call bullshit. She wouldn't have gotten those injuries in any normal car accident."  
  
"On a highway, going 130 kilometers(1) an hour and running straight on into another car going 95(2) will get those injures," he said with a hint of anger in his voice. "But, I do not see why I'm explaining this to you as I can legally take my daughter back since you have no rights over her." He began to walk towards Hermione, which caused her to try and run harder, and then scream, "I hate you!" at someone. It was hard to tell if it was angled at Ron or her father, but in all reality, it was at Ron because he wouldn't let her go.  
  
"You can't go anywhere," Ron said into her ear. "The door's locked. We'll do what we can." But he wasn't sure what they could do. He held her closer and blinked when Harry stepped between them and her father with a growl.   
  
"Don't you touch her. Don't you _dare_ touch her _ever_ again."  
  
Dumbledore stood quickly. "Mr. Potter, please be rational." It wasn't a command, more like a plea. He had never been faced with this kind of situation and wasn't exactly sure what to do. Seeing Hermione's father looking about ready to strike Harry and the same effect on Harry, with Hermione doing anything to get free from a worried Ron's arms wasn't helping him decide what to do. "Mr. Granger, I do have a simple question. Why did these wounds not get looked at while she was at the hospital? I know it was a muggle hospital but even they have ways of fixing wounds this bad."   
  
He looked about ready to start yelling and just chose the simple phrase, "None of your damn business." He pushed Harry down and viciously yanked Hermione from Ron by the hair and went to open the door. "You unlock this right now!" he commanded Dumbledore, who for one of the few times, looking completely angered.   
  
Hermione screamed and tried to get away from her father's vicious grasp.   
  
Harry scrambled to his feet, beat by Ron who slapped Granger's hand from the doorknob and forced his body between the only exit in the room and Hermione. "_Don't_," he said with a narrow-eyed look.   
  
Mr. Granger growled and brought back his hand as if to hit Ron but went stiff and fell to the ground as Dumbledore put his wand to the table.   
  
"That should do… now, what should we do with him?" he asked mostly to himself as he stared at Hermione's father, who was knocked unconscious on the ground. "He can't be sent to Azkaban as he hasn't killed anyone and the fact that he is a Muggle ties in… we could always call the, oh what is it, cops? Yes, yes… and we could bring him to where they could find him… and have a small chat…" Even Dumbledore wanted to do something worse than what he was saying. With a glance at Ron, he quickly said, "That idea of sending him to the Death Eaters would have been perfect except for the fact that they would probably pride him…" he had somehow over heard the conversation.  
  
Harry and Ron looked at Dumbledore in shock. "I don't know... about the police," Harry said slowly. "Hermione's all healed now. They won't believe he beat her so badly if there isn't physical evidence."   
  
"Yes well, I know of a few memory spells that can produce pictures..." he said as he thought it over. Hermione was looking at her father worriedly, scared he would wake up at any moment.  
  
"Well, while you decide what to do... d'you think we can get Hermione somewhere safe?" Ron asked hesitantly. "I mean... it's just..." he trailed off, not sure how to say what was on his mind and a bit weary of this side of Dumbledore.  
  
Dumbledore picked up his wand and did a small flick, and the door made a small clicking noise. "I will need to see her if I finally decide on the one spell," he said as he saw Hermione race out the now unlocked door.  
  
Ron let out an 'oomph' as she pushed away from him and tore out of the room. He and Harry went after her, surprised at how fast she was moving, but understanding her need to get away.  
  
After she turned around a corner, she collapsed to the ground, crying heavily.  
  
They caught up to her, slumped on the floor sobbing. It still wrenched their hearts to see her this way, but now they weren't as at a loss. Instead they both dropped to their knees on either side of her, slipping their arms around her and holding her.   
  
"It's going to be all right now, Hermione," Ron said softly into her hair. "Dumbledore is going to take care of everything."  
  
"I-I hate t-t-them!" she suddenly sobbed out. It was hard to tell whom she meant by 'them' but she just continued to cry heavily.  
  
They let her cry, sharing startled looks.   
  
"I-I hate h-him for a-a-allowing him t-to c-come here and I j-just h-h-hate h-him!" she screamed into the nearest chest that seemed to Ron's.  
  
Ron cradled her head with one hand. There was, yet again, nothing to say. There was nothing to explain away the fact that her father had managed to find his way into their safe-haven, or the fact that Dumbledore had seemed, for several terrifying minutes, on Mr. Granger's side. She had every right to be afraid and angry.   
  
She beat her fist against his chest as she continued to sob, as if wanting to hit either her father or Dumbledore, but she was weak enough from crying that it wouldn't hurt. Slowly, she slumped down even more as she gave up all hopes of being able to sit there and just collapsed into a small heap laying against his chest.  
  
Ron held her against him, rubbing her back and murmuring to her.   
  
Harry watched him, his own hands on her waist. This was all they could do now. Protect her and comfort her. It was a lot, really, in retrospect. But it felt so hollow and they both felt so helpless.  
  
She continued to cry for a little while then managed to choke out a soft, "T-Thank you..."  
  
"No need to thank us," Ron told her. "We'd do anything for you."   
  
Slowly, she calmed down and after the tears had finally dried up, she moved away from their comforting bodies and stood.  
  
They both followed her up. "What do we do now?" Ron asked.   
  
Hermione didn't respond, just looked out the window. It was either she didn't care what they did or she didn't know what to do.   
  
"Well, there is always class," Harry suggested, which made Ron look at him with a curled lip. Harry shrugged. "Well then, what else is there?"  
  
After a small moment, she softly said, "Walk." She didn't feel like talking but was slowly coming to see that it was fine to talk.  
  
"Right, walk it is then," Ron said, linking his arm with hers. Harry moved to her other side. "Do you want to go outside?" he asked softly.  
  
She gave what almost seemed like an energetic nod.   
  
The two boys smiled down at her and they made their way out of the castle and onto the grounds. Everyone else was in class, so they didn't have to deal with anyone enjoying the nice weather.   
  
Hermione walked next to them, enjoying the feel of the warm weather on her body. She rested her head gently onto Harry's shoulder and sighed. "I need new clothes..." she whispered randomly.  
  
"It'll be fine," he replied, slipping his arm around her waist and resting his palm over her and Ron's entwined hands. "That's the least of your worries. Shouldn't you be planning how you're going to catch up in Potions?"   
  
Ron snorted and shook his head. "Can't believe you had the chance to drop that subject in fifth year and didn't."   
  
"Just because you didn't get the proper OWLs to continue is no reason to be rude," Harry teased.  
  
"I don't care about class..." she whispered, very unlike herself. Well, since she had seen them, she hadn't been like herself at all.   
  
"Hermione, you're now perfect, will you marry me?" Ron asked, looking at her with ridiculously wide eyes.   
  
Harry snorted. "Say yes Hermione," he said. "Make our own Ronald Weasley the happiest man in the world."  
  
Hermione flinched slightly and looked away from the two of them. Since her 6th year, she had noticed that she didn't just like Ron but Harry too, and now more than ever. But she was regretting getting anywhere near the subject and that didn't help any.  
  
They noticed her flinch. "We were only joking, Hermione," Ron said. "I mean... you know, trying to lighten the mood?"   
  
Harry nodded in agreement and squeezed their hands. "Yeah, but we'll shut up if you want," he said.  
  
"It's just..." she shook her head, knowing what she wanted to say but not able to say it.  
  
"Just what?" Harry asked when she made it evident she wasn't going to continue.  
  
With a shake of her head, she just continued to walk.  
  
Ron looked like he was going to ask for more information, but Harry shook his head. "Okay," he said simply and they walked on in silence.  
  
After a moment, she whispered, "I'll... tell you some other time." With a small sigh, she continued walking while looking ahead.

* * *

1. 130 kilometers = 80 miles  
  
2. 95 kilometers = 60 miles

* * *

How'd you like? It's probably not one of my favorite chapters but… eh whatever. Not much of a cliffhanger really. More like… just a random spot to leave off. Well, I'll have the next chapter up in a few days. I didn't know so many people would like this story! Okay well... OH! I forgot to say this! It's their 7th year! Sorry!  
  
Um… yeah I'll update in a few days but I'm trying to work on this really long Cowboy Bebop fic and a one-shot Fred/George fic so… heh.   
  
Oh! If anyone has any ideas [even though we have a lot written out already that I just haven't put in story form], feel free to leave them. Any and all will be most appreciated!  
  
Don't worry. It'll be updated by or before Monday. And if there are mistakes, I'm gonna get a beta. Either one of my or Bridgette's betas… well, actually, first I need to get a beta for me to have a-- gonna shut up now. But yeah. Ignore the mistakes.


	4. Kisses May Lead To Locked Memories

For all you Ron/Hermione lovers, you're gonna like this chapter.

Disclaimer: Last time I'm writing it, standard disclaimers apply. For the rest of the story, Harry Potter isn't mine but the story is. The characters aren't but the story line is. Well… it's Bridgette's and mine. Getting annoyed with writing Disclaimer, this is the last.

* * *

Harry and Ron had decided that one of them would stay up with Hermione if she wanted to talk. At first they'd both wanted to do it, but they did still have class in the morning. They had kept pretty much the same schedule though, so as long as someone was lucid enough to take notes the other would be fine. Ron had volunteered to stay up with her that night and let Harry get some rest, and so he was sitting with her in the Common Room.

Hermione had her legs gently tucked under her and was staring at the fire. Her arm was gently resting on the sofa's armrest and her chin rested on it gently. She kept glancing at Ron every so often then back at the fire just as quickly.

Ron noticed her not-so-sly glances and turned to her with a small smile. "Something on your mind?" he asked. "You can tell me about it, if you want."

She looked at him. Then sighed. "It's just… I've missed you a lot," she said softly.

"Yeah? Well, I've missed you too," he admitted, flushing. "It was weird not seeing you all summer. I'd gotten rather used to living with you."

She smiled just slightly. "You're really all I was thinking about… I kept thinking about what you were thinking when I didn't return your letters. I found a stack of them, all unopened and hidden when my dad was at work once. I read a few of them and wanted to write to you but he came home before I could. I was so worried you thought I hated you or something."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... um, I was a bit worried you were mad at me. We do fight a lot and I'm always saying something to get you pissed at me." He shrugged helplessly.

She couldn't surpass the small chuckle that escaped. It felt foreign to her and she couldn't help but smile some. "I know we fight a lot, and sometimes, it's my fault. Most of the time it's my fault." Since the summer, she had been treated like everything was her fault so that was how she acted there.

Ron looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Riiight," he drawled out. "So, every time I lose my temper and act like a jealous git I can blame it on you now? C'mon Hermione, you can tell me I'm a dumb bastard sometimes. I'm thick-skinned. I can take it."

Hermione just shook her head and sat up. "No. You're not a dumb b-- Ron, what do you mean 'jealous git'? I mean, why do you act like one?" she suddenly asked.

"Er..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, you know, seeing you all chummy with other blokes can get a bit annoying sometimes." he mumbled.

"Why though?" she asked softly.

He sighed. "I dunno. I mean, I didn't know. But I guess it's because I... um... well, like you a lot. I really like you and…" he bit his lip, already completely embarrassed and not quite sure this was how he'd ever pictured this conversation going.

She just stared at him with wide eyes then took a deep breath. "I... er… I really like you too." She noticed they sounded like immature first years, but was glad to finally get her feelings for him out into the open.

"I'm sorry! I knew you'd say that and so that's why I never told you and... you do? Really? I mean, you aren't just saying that you like me?" He looked at her skeptically, although Harry always said that skeptical was a cute look on him.

Instead of just telling him, she slowly leaned forward and let her lips meet his. It was clear that she was very worried about what he was going to do back but she it didn't stop her; she had wanted to do this for years.

Ron went still and blinked slightly. Hermione was kissing him. Hermione... was kissing him. Hermione was... _kissing_ _him_. He rather liked the way that sounded in his head, and liked the feel of it more, and kissed her back softly.

Hermione continued the kiss, even though she was worried she would do something wrong.

Ron settled into the kiss, leaning a bit closer to her, moving his lips gently over hers. He'd never thought he'd ever actually get to kiss her. He'd imagined it more times than he could count, but to actually have his hands resting lightly on her shoulders with their mouths melded was something he'd figured would always be a dream and nothing more.

Her hands slowly slipped around his neck as she continued. Slowly, her tongue slipped out and ran against his lips gently.

He parted them, touching the tip of his tongue to hers as it found it's way into his mouth.

She began to run her tongue gently around his while gazing up at him.

His eyes had slid shut some time ago, but he felt her gaze on him and leaned back, breath choppy and heavy, but he was more content than he'd been in a long time.

Hermione smiled at him, her breath a bit uneven. After a short moment, she uneasily asked, "Was that your first kiss?" She knew she was being nosy but was wondering.

"Er, yeah," he admitted. "I mean, kissed Lavender once, but it was nothing like that. Just a peck really. So... yes and no?"

She smiled and then sighed. "Wish that was my first kiss," she whispered and then suddenly covered her mouth like she didn't want him to hear that.

He smiled at her. "Well, it can be. On a technicality. You can always say, 'Well, technically my first kiss was with Ron Weasley because...' er, well, I'll leave that bit up to you."

She muttered something under her breath that sounded like 'Because the other one was forced.' She looked away with a small sigh.

He frowned. "Do I really want to know who forced it?" he asked.

She sighed. "It was... just some guy that my dad was trying to get some money from. The guy's son seemed to fancy me so my father forced me to do anything the kid wanted or I was going to hurt and then forced..." her voice went quieter as she continued to talk.

His frown deepened. "I shoulda killed him this morning," he muttered. "Did this guy... did he force you to anything but kiss him?"

She was about ready to speak but then whispered, "You don't want to k-know..." her voice was starting to break with each following word.

Ron sighed and took her into his arms. "You can tell me whenever you feel ready," he said.

"Promise not to get mad?" she asked softly.

"Yeah." he said, though he knew he probably would. He'd just keep it from her, that was all. Be supportive and not angry.

She gave a small sigh and said, "He er… made me… erm…" A few months ago, she would have been called prude and now she was telling him something that made her far from it. "He… made me give him a…" she quickly mouthed, 'blow job,' and sighed, letting her head fall back so she looked up at the ceiling. She didn't want to start crying again.

"Bloody git," he muttered, the words a good deal milder than what he was _really_ thinking. "I'm sorry, Hermione. But... it doesn't really count." God, he sounded stupid. "Mum always says that, um, for it to count you have to be willing. So you're not a scarlet woman if that's what you're thinking."

She sighed and leaned back. After a moment, she looked up at him. "Oh yeah. And I kissed Viktor."

"Aw. Did you kiss Vicky?" he asked with a teasing lilt. He smiled. "Well, I guess that's all right. If he didn't force you."

She rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't force me… he more or less worshiped me… sort of glad I caught him kissing that other girl over the summer before last," she said then sort of regretted saying that. She was glad they got off of the subject of her father and the guy, but was sort of regretting being on the subject of Viktor.

"Always knew he was a faithless git." Ron said a bit pompously. "You're well off it, Hermione. And anyway, you have me now. I can worship you too." He grinned at her. "Though," he added. "Maybe not as well as he can. I mean, all that studying kind of worries me, you know? Bet he thought it was brilliant, good ol' Vicky."

Hermione shrugged. "You know… I don't think I'm going to study as hard as I used to," she said softly, and looked away so she wouldn't see his stares of confusion.

"Er... you know, as nice as it is to imagine days and nights _not _filled with note-taking, you sure you can handle that? You just won't be Hermione if you're not running around comparing notes with Ravenclaws and telling me and Harry to do our homework."

Hermione looked at him for a moment then shrugged. "But after what happened during the summer, I mean, I don't really care about school that much… I'd rather just be around people that I care about than be behind a stack of books bigger than me." She knew she was still going to study but not as hard as normal.

He smiled. "Well, that certainly sounds like a nice way to go about things. I, for one, will enjoy it very much."

She blushed a bit and smiled.

He tightened his hold on her and kissed the top of her head, content with the silence that settled over them.

She leaned to gently kiss his neck with a small smile and closed her eyes, feeling very happy.

* * *

Harry made sure to wake himself up early the next morning, and by the time he'd tied the laces of his trainers Seamus had barely started to toss and turn in a manner that suggested he was about to wake up. Grabbing his book bag he made his way into the Common Room to see Ron and Hermione curled around each other on the couch. He smiled a bit, since they looked rather cute that way, but he was jealous as well. Still, he managed to walk over without letting that show. "You'd both better wake up," he said, shaking them gently. "And get ready so we can grab breakfast."

Hermione gave a groan as she buried her head in the crook of Ron's neck. "Five more minutes…" she muttered tiredly without even thinking.

"Now, now," Harry said with a grin at Hermione's reaction and Ron's complete lack of one. "Wouldn't want to be late to class today. And besides, we haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday." What with all the stress they had completely forgotten about dinner and lunch.

"No class," she groaned tiredly and tried to fall back asleep. Ron and Hermione had stayed up late, talking about simple things and had finally exhausted themselves into sleep just a few hours before then. "Three more minutes," she said tiredly. It seemed like she was going to negotiate how much longer until she woke up, even though she was technically up.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll just grab something and bring up here, how's that? Seamus'll never let you live this down though. And Colin will snap tons of pictures and Ginny will have a party."

"Argh, don't even joke about that," Ron said groggily.

"Who's joking?" Harry shot back before leaving the Common Room.

Hermione didn't reply as she was sleeping again for the time being. Most of the Gryffindor girls knew not to wake her because usually, if she didn't have enough sleep or it was a weekend, she's jinx them. Luckily for Harry, her wand wasn't near her and she was too comfortable to do anything anyways.

Ron, for his part, didn't feel like moving again ever. He was still tired and besides, Hermione was really comfortable curled against his chest. He could have slept with her in his arms all day. Of course, there were still the other occupants of Gryffindor Tower to contend with... but he was really comfortable... well, he'd just sleep on it.

Hermione slept for a little while until she suddenly awoke to the sounds of snickering. Slowly opening her eyes, she groaned and saw Ginny laughing quietly but looking happy.

Ron, who was quite used to Ginny's laughs waking him up, simply tightened his hold on Hermione and mumbled something that sounded like, 'the toast is in the oven'.

Hermione looked at Ginny tiredly and groaned, trying to go back to sleep. But the fact that Ginny was sitting there, watching them, was sort of unnerving her.

Ron felt Hermione sit up in his arms and forced himself awake. "What's goin' on?" he asked groggily. "I thought Harry was gonna let us sleep longer."

"He did. It's been two hours," Ginny said as she sat in a chair, reading over a book. She had the hour free so she had come to check on Hermione and Ron. Both had been excused for up till the following Monday from classes if they really needed it, so the teachers weren't fretting over them being gone.

Hermione sighed and then saw food Harry had brought up for them and took a piece of bacon, quickly eating it.

"Well, where's he gone off to then?" Ron asked, rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes. "Figures this whole world's upside down... Harry's off studying and Hermione's sleeping in..."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "He went to class. Said it'd be hopeless to wake you two up." After a short pause, she raised a brow. "Now, question. Why did you two sleep there all night?" she asked with a small grin.

Hermione was slowly feeling comfortable in talking to others but really did not want to tell Ginny, as she knew that she'd automatically think more happened.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Bet you'd like to know," he said with a teasing grin, helping himself to the food Hermione was quickly polishing off.

"Yes I would. Tell me," Ginny said with a small pout.

Hermione ate less than a quarter of the food that was there before she sat back, feeling more than full.

Ron continued eating, sometimes throwing Ginny hints at what had happened, but always laughing and saying, "You're so gullible. Of course that's not what happened."

Ginny finally glared at him and threw the book down in the chair and stormed off to her room.

Hermione couldn't help but smile at Ron softly.

"She's easy to get rid of when you've spent nearly seventeen years doing it," he said with an answering grin.

Hermione smiled softly. "You know… I wasn't really that scared with her near me," she whispered then looked up at Ron. "Did I really make her loose a few teeth?" She had overheard it but everything was fuzzy from when she was on the train.

Ron coughed. "Er, I'm pretty sure Draco lost most of the teeth," he said slowly.

Hermione blinked. "Wait… from Ginny, right?" she could only remember in hitting Ginny, Seamus and Neville but wasn't entirely sure.

"Yeah." Ron grinned widely. "She's an absolute goddess for a Weasley," he said. "Taking on Draco like that will ensure her a place in history books."

Hermione chuckled then gave a sigh. "Wish I could remember it… everything's really fuzzy."

"I bet," he said wryly. "I wish I could have seen more of it. Hell, I wish I could have captured it. Like, on one of those Muggle things? You know, that decord stuff?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Recorders… video recorders. Your knowledge of Muggle appliances really does amaze me."

He made a face. "Yes, so you say. Anyway, how about we at least get dressed? Lunch is in a few hours, and it'll take me about that long to get off this couch. Better get started."

Hermione smiled and slowly moved away from him, pushing herself off of the couch. She made a mental note to fall asleep as early as she possibly could that night as she yawned softly.

Ron followed her up, a bit stiffly, and then made his way up to the dorms. He always felt... icky after going more than a day without a shower and now was no different. After that, maybe he'd go back to sleep.

Hermione headed up to her room slowly. Once inside, she changed and then looked in the mirror. After brushing her hair, she looked over it with a sigh and grabbed some scissors.

Ron, after a long hot shower and fresh clothes, was feeling decidedly more awake. He was also very happy. No classes, just him and Hermione all day. Yes, he was very happy indeed as he made his way back down to the Common Room.

Hermione came out of her room a moment later, looking down at the ground as she walked down the stairs. She was nervous about what Ron was going to say as her hair was now straightened, and had a decent had cut but was now only about a half inch above her shoulders.

Ron, who had just plopped down on the couch, heard Hermione come in and looked up. "So, what do you want to do now?" He paused for a moment. "Um, stupid question I know, but what'd you do to your hair?"

She looked up and sighed. "I know it looks terrible," It looked positively great compared to before, but she was really scared of what people would say. "I didn't like how it looked… and it was so uneven. I had to cut a lot off to get it even and then it was so short so I just straightened it."

"No, it looks great," Ron said quickly. "Just didn't expect it, that's all."

She shook her head. "It looks terrible but at least it feels better," she said as she sat next to him.

"Nah, it doesn't," he said, knowing she'd probably shake her head again. "But as long as you feel better, that's all that matters, yeah?"

"Not if you and Harry are going to hate it," she said softly and quietly.

"I don't. And Harry won't. Harry hates Death Eaters and dark magic, not haircuts," he said with a small smile.

She smiled a bit. "Well… there's a first time for everything."

* * *

Harry left Divinations with a prediction looming over his head that he could have lived without. Ever since fifth year, Trelawney had taken to telling him what a wonderful life he was going to have and today was no different. But he could have done without being told he would have nine children because certain stars were aligned to ensure the fertility of him and his future wife. Seamus would never let him live this down.

Hermione was waiting in the Great Hall for Harry and was eating some lunch, not really all together hungry. A few stares were shot at her because of her new hairstyle but the only one she cared about was Harry. Nervously, she continued eating her lunch.

Ron looked up as Harry approached and sat down across from his two best friends. "So, notice anything different?"

Harry nodded with a smile. "It looks great, Hermione," he said. "I mean, not that you didn't look good before..."

"Watch out, mate," Ron said with a grin. "You're starting to sound like me when I'm nervous."

Hermione smiled slightly. "Thanks but it looks terrible."

"Doesn't," Harry said. "But I won't argue with you. You're as stubborn as Ron, you know."

"And you're not?" Ron demanded.

Harry just shrugged and tossed him a wink.

Hermione smiled some. "So… er… I think I'm going to go to class today." The only class she had after lunch was double Potions but she didn't want to miss it, as she didn't know if she could even catch up as it was.

"Well, I'll be there so you don't have worry about being alone with Malfoy and Parkinson," Harry said with a smile. Potions wasn't so bad though, nowadays. Now that the class was smaller and consisted of several other students from all houses, there was very little to hate about it. Save the fact it was Potions. And taught by Snape.

Ron mumbled under his breath and took a gulp of Pumpkin Juice that he nearly choked on. He was still sore about his OWLs not being high enough to be able to properly snub his nose at Potions.

She gave a small smile at Ron. "It isn't like you're missing anything Ron, except for Snape or Draco… which sort of makes me wish I had dropped it." She sighed then suddenly looked at Harry. "I've been meaning to ask, what exactly did Draco do to get Ginny to attack him?" No one had told her yet except for that Ginny beat Draco up and then was attacked by Crabbe and Goyle.

He shrugged. "Oh, you know, the usual."

"Yeah," Ron added. "Said you deserved what you got and since Harry and I were indisposed, Ginny jumped him. Bloody brilliant's what it was," he said, his face taking on a wistful expression.

Hermione smiled. "Really do wish I could remember…" she said softly. "Oh well… not like I really care." She did but she wasn't willing to let them know.

They nodded, looking a bit skeptical but deciding eating a better prospect than talking. Especially Ron, who was starving, having only eaten two breakfasts and lunch in two days.

Hermione finished and took a book out of her pocket, starting to read it. It was a bit tattered and had what appeared to be blood on a few pages but she just flipped to the page she had left off on.

"Only you would read in the middle of lunch," Ron declared. "What is it, anyway?"

"Just a book that I wanted to read over summer. Managed to read about half of it during the beginning…" by the tone of her voice, it was like she was going to continue but chose not to.

They could both figure out what beginning she was referring to, though, and didn't press the issue.

After about 5 pages, she started to rip pages out and finished after about half were out, like she was incredibly annoyed at it.

They shared a look. "Er, Hermione, what's wrong?" Ron asked slowly.

She shook her head. "I'm not going to read it. I can't... k-keeps making me… just..." she put her elbows onto the table and then rested her face into her hands. After a moment, she took her hands away and pulled out her wand, then muttered a spell that levitated the pieces of paper then lit them on fire. She managed to get her arm close enough to where her sleeve caught fire and before she quickly put it out, her arm was burned in the process. "Damnit." With another mutter of a spell, the newly burned ashes were back on the table and in a little pile on some dirty dishes. Pulling up her sleeve, she looked at the burn that was extremely bad but it didn't even seem to hurt her. Luckily for her, the teachers had already left since lunch was almost over with so no one caught her lighting the papers.

Ron looked at her with wide eyes. "You need to get that looked at," he said. "That's a nasty burn."

Hermione shrugged and lowered her sleeve back down then looked out the window. "Doesn't hurt. Guess I'm used to getting burned." she suddenly wished she hadn't said that because she remembered that she hadn't told them about why her legs had been burned everywhere.

"Hermione... are you sure?" Harry asked. "I mean, it could get infected." He didn't need to ask if her father had burned her as well. It seemed he'd done all forms of torture he could think of and she didn't look like she wanted to talk about it.

"It'll heal. I've already caused a lot of trouble. Not going to cause any more," she said simply.

"Madam Pomfrey won't care if you go to her with a burn, you know," Harry said. "But if you want I can see about getting a salve or something before dinner."

"It's fine!" she suddenly said then sighed and looked down. "Sorry." She really thought she was annoying everyone with her wounds and she wanted to stop.

Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "It's fine. Are you sure you want to go to class today, though? Will you be alright?"

She gave a nod. "I'll be fine… just a bit jumpy probably."

* * *

Well… there you go. This story will be, from now on, updated every 4 days after I add the next chapter. So… since it's Monday, then Tuesday (1), Wednesday (2), Thursday (3), and Friday (4).

Hope you liked. And there's another pairing coming up in the next chapter, along with mayhem and long friendships being broken. So I hope you'll enjoy 'Chapter 5: Any Action Can Break Even The Longest and Tightest of Friendships'


	5. Actions Can Break Life Long Friendships

Meh… I know I said the title was gonna be long but I couldn't fit it. So… yeah. This site SUCKS! …er... quickly erases so the owners can't read Heh-heh…

Um… well, enjoy.

And to all the Harry/Hermione fans, here ya go. Has some Ron/Hermione references also.

* * *

Later that day, Hermione was in Potions and was paired with Harry. On the board was a difficult mix they had to brew and Hermione had, to the delight of Draco and Snape, already messed up hers and Harry's once. Her hands were shaky and, even after profuse apologizes as they were now behind the class, still felt bad. And, just like Harry said, she was figuring her burn was infected but was doing her best to ignore it and glad that her robes covered it. 

Harry leaned over to take the diced roots she was currently holding. "Hermione, are you okay?" he asked, adding them carefully and stirring first clockwise and then twice counterclockwise.

Hermione gave a nod. "Yeah, just... you know that feeling when you can't be still? That's exactly what's happening," she murmured and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said yet again then took two dried lizards after Harry was done stirring and dropped them in, then stirred twice clockwise.

"Well, I'll do all the work as long as you make sure to remind me of all the steps," he slid a sideways grin at her. "We both know how bad I am at following instructions."

Hermione smiled and couldn't hold back the chuckle. "Yes well, I never thought that I would mess up something so bad that we needed to redo it."

"First time for everything," he said dryly as they waited for the potion to simmer for the designated ten minutes.

"I just wish it didn't happen," she murmured as she felt Draco and Pansy's giggles and smirks on her back. She had an urge to yell at them and kick them but quickly looked down, surprised with the amount of anger she felt towards anyone that got her even the little bit peeved.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said. "You'll still end up with higher marks than either of them'll ever get combined."

Hermione smiled softly. Finally, the ten minutes were up and she began to read off the instructions slowly for him so he wouldn't have to keep looking up, with her hands still shaking slightly. A distant thought of if she would ever be able to do any potions or spells without shaking or crying or doing something out of the ordinary ran through her head but she mentally pushed the thought aside to continue reading the instructions, one by one and starting the next only after Harry had finished the last.

It was actually nice to work like this. Not because he did less work, but because they were working together so well. Sixth year all he did was get in her way so that he'd be the one to needlessly read off the directions.

Hermione continued reading until she suddenly gripped her right hand with the opposite to stop the shaking. With Snape's snide remarks at any moment he pleased that reminded her of her father, and Draco whispers to Pansy about how Pomfrey had messed up her improvement was making her remember everything and her voice began to break as she read the next instruction to Harry.

Harry finished adding the next ingredient, glad the potion had to simmer for seven more minutes and straightened. "Hermione, don't listen to them, okay? It's not as if Malfoy's all that scary anyway. Ginny can take him."

Hermione looked down and gave a small nod but the last thing Draco had said hit her hard. _'I heard from my father that Granger's mother killed herself from the horrid images she had right after she left Granger there in the clutches of her father.' _Even though she doubted it was true, the sentence running through her head over and over was beginning to explain things that she had figured had no answers. She put her elbows on the table and put her face into her hands, covering it and just closing her eyes as she tried to fight either the urge to break down or to scream... maybe both.

Harry looked over at her. He'd added the final two ingredients and was now watching a black vapor rise from the cauldron. Pleased with the result, and glad that it was as close to perfect as it would get today, he knelt next to Hermione. "What is it?" he asked softly, placing his hands on her forearms.

"Just.. Harry, what if she did kill herself?" she whispered as she raised her head slowly. "She promised me she'd be back. She promised and she had never lied to me before. But, she never came. What if... i-if..." It was clear that she was getting to her breaking point. She had taken so much and never had even thought of the possibility but now it seemed like it could happen so easily. It seemed like it was true.

He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hermione, calm down, okay? We'll go to Dumbledore after class if you want and ask him, but you have to stay calm for now."

Hermione slowly gave a nod and after a few grueling moments, managed to get herself to look as normal as she could. But as she began to talk, no emotion came out except for a bit of emptiness. "I don't want to know. I don't," she whispered softly and stared at the potion they had made.

"Then we won't ask," Harry said simply. "All right?"

She nodded. "T-Thanks. I've been such a bother lately and... I don't know how you're putting up with me," she whispered softly.

He smiled. "You're not a bother and besides, that's what friends are for isn't? Taking care of each other and loving each other."

She blushed a tiny bit when she heard 'loving' but smiled and gave a nod.

The bell rang at that moment, for which Harry was grateful. Snape had been sneering down on them obviously wanting to make a snide comment. They quickly bottled their potion, labeled it and handed it in.

Hermione then grabbed her books and headed to leave, waiting for him then falling in step next to him. She felt a bit uneasy but was still as happy as she could be at that moment.

* * *

About two weeks later, Hermione was in the Gryffindor Common Room. She was doing some Transfiguration homework along with Harry, as the two had the period off but Ron had another class. Having not paid attention the last few days in class was finally hurting her as she looked blankly at her homework. 

Harry, for his part, was having a bit of trouble paying attention. Transfiguration homework was always very dull to him and he wasn't too good at it for the most part. He was better than Ron, though, so he wasn't hopeless. But he couldn't concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing.

Hermione sighed. "What'd you get for the sixth answer?" she asked, wondering if she got it anywhere near right.

Harry blinked out of his daze and stared at Hermione. "What?" he asked dumbly.

She smiled. "What'd you get for the sixth answer? Or are you even there yet?"

He glanced down. "Um... actually, I'm not there yet," he replied sheepishly.

Hermione smiled softly. "Okay. Maybe... we should take a break. Because I can't concentrate and by the looks of it, you can't either."

Harry grinned. "Sounds good to me. We can try and work on this later."

She gave a nod and put her books back down on the coffee tables in front of them and leaned back in the couch. "So... what should we do?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just relax I guess. Not that either of us are really that good at it," he added with a small smirk.

Hermione smiled and leaned back on the couch. After a moment, she wasn't comfy so she continued to move until she finally got comfortable, hanging upside down some. Her robes had moved up some so that her jeans were visible but she only grinned some at the questioning look she got.

Harry shook his head and settled on the floor next to her, his back against the couch and fingered the hair that pooled near his hands. "It really looks nice," he said absently.

She blinked then smiled some. "Thanks. This is gonna sound stupid but the main thing I actually thought about when I got on the train was hiding my hair from you two, like I could actually hide it forever," she said with a small chuckle.

"Your hair was kinda cute like that," he admitted. "All short and curly. A bit messy but..." he shrugged as if to say 'what can you do?'.

She smiled and blushed a bit. "I didn't really notice how long it was until it was cut. Sort of like it this way actually," she said after a lot of thought. "It's a lot easier to manage."

"Bet so," he said softly, sifting his fingers through the silky strands.

She smiled at him then suddenly moved and laid so that her chin was laying on her elbows, and her stomach was flat on the couch with her legs hanging off over the armrest. At another questioning look, she shrugged. "Got sort of dizzy like that."

He chuckled. "Bet so," he said again.

She smiled and a sort-of uneasy silence surrounded them, so she tried to think of anything to say.

Harry swallowed hard as the silence grew. He recognized this feeling. The same empty-stomach nervousness that had plagued him whenever Cho Chang was around. He didn't know what it meant. If he liked Hermione as more than a friend... ah hell, who was he kidding? He'd liked her for ages. But she and Ron had always been... _inclined _toward each other.

Hermione felt very uneasy as she just looked around the room, as if looking for something other than Harry to look at. She knew what the feeling was; it was the same one she got when she was around Ron and the two were alone. She had no clue why she liked the both of them, as she had technically snogged Ron so it made her feel slightly bad but she made sure to hide it.

Harry didn't know how long he stared at Hermione. He just knew it was nice to see her without those constant shadows in her eyes. She looked calm and happy, if a bit nervous. Finally he cleared his throat slightly and shifted until their heads were inches apart. "Hermione..."

Hermione's eyes met his and she let out a small, hesitant, "Yes?"

"I... don't know..." he said. He didn't really, and he knew it sounded ridiculous. But he was trying to fill silence with words and he was never very good at making sense in these kinds of situations. So he simply leaned forward and did what every part of his being was compelling him to do: he kissed Hermione.

Hermione's eyes widened and she froze, quickly contemplating if it was wise to kiss back, just let him do what he wanted or to push him away. She finally chose the one that made her the happiest and slowly started to kiss back.

It wasn't that Ron wasn't accustomed to seeing things that shocked him. He was, in fact, quite used to it. He lived in a world where anything could and did happen. But seeing Harry kissing Hermione in between classes was _too _much of a shock. His loud curse broke them apart, both looking up guiltily and only making him angrier.

Hermione slowly sat up, quickly regretting what she had done. "R-Ron..." she started hesitantly. But what could she say? She had no clue. It wasn't like she could automatically blame it on Harry or grovel for forgiveness at Ron's feet as she had no clue who she really did like more. So instead, she just sat there, staring at him with eyes not full of regret but guilt.

Ron stared at them both for several minutes.

Harry didn't even know what to say. He'd fucked up and he knew it, but he wasn't going to make it better just by apologizing. Besides, Ron didn't take apologies well. He waited for him to blow up at them both, but the red-head just gazed at them in horrified shock and anger.

After a moment of looking at him, she slowly looked down and waited for something to happen. The silence was tearing her apart. She didn't care if he yelled or just walked out or whatever, as long as there wasn't any more silence.

Ron took several deep breaths, determined to reign in his anger. It didn't work very well, but at least he didn't yell. God, he didn't even know what to think. He'd thought that he and Hermione were... well, he didn't know. And he'd never told Harry how he felt about her but he thought it was one of those unspoken agreements. He thought that friends didn't do this to each other.

"We don't. I mean..." Harry quieted under Ron's gaze. "I didn't mean to say that out loud," he said.

Ron was hardly aware he even had until Harry had replied. "And I certainly don't want to hear what you have to say." His friend flinched but Ron didn't care.

Hermione just looked up at Ron. She watched him silently, her eyes a bit empty. She opened her mouth to try and explain but she closed it just as quickly, as she had no explanation.

Ron just snorted and turned around to walk back out of the Common Room.

She closed her eyes and just put her face to her hands and lowered her head. She should have explained to Harry... she should have pushed him away... she should have just continued with the damn Transfiguration homework. The list just went on and on in her mind. Finally, in her mind, she just blamed it on the bloody homework for being so stupid since they couldn't concentrate.

Harry considered going after Ron; for about five seconds. But Ron was never rational when he was this angry. Instead he stood and mumbled something about going to the dorm to think about things. "I'm, er, really sorry," he added.

Hermione just whispered a soft, "I'm sorry. I should have told you Ron and I kissed." She sighed, more or less hating herself.

"Yeah well, I knew how he felt. I shouldn't have... I mean... I've got a lot to think about."

"If he's still angry when he comes back... just, er," it was clearly taking a lot to say this but she was being completely serious. "Blame it on me. You two are better friends than me and him, I guess." With that, she stood and went to go to her dorm.

Harry stared after her and then shook his head. He wouldn't blame her. He was as much at fault and besides, she'd been through enough without this on top of it. He'd just talk to Ron, possibly get in a fight with him and if he was lucky they'd all be talking again by next month.

Hermione got to her room and laid on her bed before breaking down into sobs and curling into a ball, not wanting to go to class or meals or anything else ever again.

* * *

Ron hadn't spoken to either Hermione or Harry since the incident. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He'd grunted at them a few times in Transfiguration and Charms. But otherwise he avoided them completely and could be found either in Ginny's company or hanging out with Seamus, Dean and Neville.

Hermione hadn't talked to Harry but a few times in Potions or when she would almost start crying after Ron would snub them in the GCR. She had started to sit alone at the Gryffindor table and sit away from everyone in class if they didn't need partners, and then was no exception. Sitting down at the end of the table away from everyone, she just stared down at her sandwich.

Ron looked sideways across the table to see Hermione sitting by herself. He hadn't seen Harry at a meal all week and she was always alone and looking miserable. He sighed and turned back to his lunch but didn't have much of an appetite. "What should I do, Gin?" he asked softly.

Ginny looked at Ron. "I don't think I can answer that one," she said softly. "You have to figure it out for yourself." She knew she sounded stupid but she wanted him to choose it for himself, knowing that he would probably choose the right way.

Hermione finally just put her elbows on the table and put her face to her palms as she started to breathe raggedly. After a moment, she slowly stood and went to leave, feeling sick to her stomach like she had most of the week.

Ron fought with himself for a moment before standing up and going over to her. "Hermione?" he said hesitantly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Hermione froze under his grasp then jerked her shoulder away. When she turned around, tears and sadness were in her eyes but her voice was cold. "Finally want to yell at me? Go ahead. Guess I'm just a s-sca..." she trailed off as she remembered the conversation she had had with Ron after they had kissed. "Guess I'm just a bitch and I deserve every bit of it," she managed out.

"No! That's not what... I wanted to..." he glanced sideways and cursed softly. People were starting to stare. "Let's talk in the common room, okay? Privately?"

"Fine. Then you can yell louder," she whispered and headed towards the common room. Every day since that night had been spent crying or wishing she was back at her house even, because then she didn't have hours a day to think about how she screwed everything up for everyone.

He followed her, feeling guilty. Like he hadn't felt guilty since he'd stopped talking to her. Yes he was pissed, but she needed him. She'd been through too much for this. Hell, he'd even reconcile with Harry if it would help.

She soon got back to the common room and sat down on the couch while looking up at him. She wanted to talk to him but she was mad at him for not talking to her for a week, for treating her like they were engaged when she had kissed Harry, for making her entire life a living hell lately and for him not even considering to ask what had happened but automatically getting pissed.

He didn't know quite what to do with her looking up at him, eyes wounded but angry as well. So he paced a bit and fidgeted around. "Okay I'm sorry," he said finally. "I'm still angry, but I've been a prat and I'm really, _really_ sorry."

"Ron... I know I messed up but, Merlin, you treated me like we were engaged or something. We only had a kiss_. One _kiss. This whole entire week..." she had to stop to take a few deep breaths. "I am packed with the few possessions I have. I was going to leave. I hated being here when Harry avoided me and you just snubbed me off like I was a piece of trash. This week, I would have rather been in the hands of my father than here," she said and just looked into his eyes. Tears were filling hers but none were falling.

Ron knelt in front of her. "God, I am so sorry," he said. Having already said it once, it rolled off his tongue this time. And he always had such a hard time apologizing. "I was... I guess I just thought it meant something to you. Our kiss, I mean. I thought maybe you liked me and maybe you would go out with me and then I saw you kissing Harry and there went that." He frowned. "I've been a selfish bastard and none of this was your fault and please forgive me. _Please_."

She suddenly hugged him tight and started to cry into his neck. "I-I do l-l-like you," she managed out. A million different things to say were running through her head and she was trying to get them into one coherent sentence but it wasn't working.

He wanted to ask why she'd kissed Harry, then, but it wasn't the time. Instead he just held her. "We'll figure this out then, okay?"

Tears continued to cascade down her cheeks for a few moments until she slowly pulled back. A few tears still filled her eyes but she quickly wiped them away. "This is so messed up..." she whispered after a moment, not talking about him but her own feelings, though it was still hard to tell what she was talking about.

"Well, we'll work through it," Ron said, a bit uncertainly.

"It's... argh. I like... the reason I kissed both of you was because I like both of you." After a moment, she took an uneven breath. "Correction. I think... I love both of you," she whispered quietly and looked down.

Ron blinked at her. "Both of us?" he repeated. "You're in love with both of us? At the same time? Equally?"

Hermione's eyes met his. "Yes," she said simply but very softly.

"Does, er, Harry know?" he asked slowly, wondering if he had even fully taken this in yet.

She shook her head. "He's been avoiding me. A few words during Potions but that's it... so I haven't had any chances to talk to him about anything."

Ron didn't know quite how to take that news. He was torn between being pissed at him for avoiding her when she was distressed and feeling... happy that Harry'd respected him enough to back off.

She sighed and leaned back, letting her head rest against the couch. Then gave a soft smile, but it was full of sadness for some reason. "It's a good thing you talked to me today," she whispered, but by the tone of her voice, it had nothing to do with her leaving Hogwarts.

He frowned and sat next to her. "Why?"

"It's amazing what you'll do when you're breaking down, day after day, in a small bathroom cubicle or your room or... wherever you are," she said softly and curled towards him slightly. "You just seem to find everything that's sharp..."

He slipped an arm around her shoulder. "Don't. Not because of me. Don't do that because of me ever again."

"I thought I was trash. You really... it just... you made me hate myself. Everything I did since we've been here this year, I made myself believe it was all terrible." She put her head to his shoulder. "I just wanted to talk to you but I couldn't make myself then I started to break down every night and..." she shakily pulled up a sleeve and there were cuts all over her arms, most going on the vein.

He cursed, a bit more loudly than he'd intended and buried his head in her neck. He mumbled 'sorry' over and over and over and didn't even notice when Harry entered the common room with Neville at his heels.

Hermione closed her eyes, leaving the sleeve up and slowly wrapped the other arm around Ron so she was hugging him gently.

Neville looked at Ron and Hermione then poked Harry in the arm, then pointed to Hermione's arm that had the cuts, which was visible to anyone that looked.

Harry just shook his head and forced a smile. "Um, I'm glad you two've made up," he said.

Ron didn't say anything, just tugged her sleeve down and then moved his arms back around her waist.

Hermione didn't say anything either. She didn't know what to say, as she also felt like she didn't matter to Harry due to them never talking.

"I've got some, er, things to do," Harry said softly, looking away. "So we'll leave you two alone." He turned on his heel to head back out, ignoring the questioning glance Neville shot him before tactfully following. He didn't know if he had the right to be jealous or angry or hurt, but he was. Still, if Hermione wouldn't be miserable anymore with Ron and if Ron wouldn't be miserable anymore with Hermione than who was he to get in the way and make them unhappy or angry? Who was he?

After a few moments, Hermione slowly pulled back. "I'm so sorry," she whispered quietly to Ron, feeling like she was in trouble for cutting her wrists.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for," he said. "I was the one who turned on you when you needed me."

She smiled softly, even though it was a sad smile, and kissed his cheek.

* * *

How'd you like? Um… screw that 4 day rule because it almost made me go insane waiting that long to update. From now on, I'll update whenever I have the chance. The next few chapters may seem a bit rushed (just warning ya about it), but we do have a plot we're leading to!

So… hope you enjoyed and… chapter 6 will be up soon!


	6. Friends or Family?

Tanku for the reviews! MaraWeaves, and the rest of you that wondered her question, you'll find out in this chapter. And they get together by _neither _of those ways.

* * *

About 2 weeks later, Hermione, Harry and Ron were in Transfiguration class. Hermione was sitting next to Ron while Harry was next to Neville. Ron and Harry's relationship had just gotten worse, but Hermione was speaking a few things to Harry once in a while. She hadn't explained anything like she had to Ron but she wasn't avoiding Harry either.

Neville glanced sideways at Harry who wasn't paying much attention at all to class. "You okay?" he asked out of the side of his mouth, which was a stupid question really. He hadn't been okay for nearly three weeks and seemed to be getting worse.

But he turned to him with a small smile that didn't reach his eyes and nodded. "Fine. That is, I'm fine." He made a face and turned back to staring at the desk.

Hermione was trying to pay attention and was doing a pretty good job until Dumbledore walked into the classroom, quieting McGonnagal.

He looked at Hermione and his eyes had no glitter of happiness and hope but a flicker of sadness. "Could you come with me?" he asked her.

Hermione gave a look to Ron and slowly stood; she wanted him to come but by the tone of Dumbledore's voice, he only wanted her. So slowly and slightly hesitantly, she followed Dumbledore out of the classroom.

Ron watched her go with a small frown and saw Harry's head jerk up sharply out of the corner of his eye.

He followed Hermione's progression before looking over at Ron with a question in his eyes.

Ron just shrugged to say he didn't know either. But he was worried. Nothing good seemed to come out of anything these days.

The minutes seemed to tick by like hours and after 20 minutes, Hermione still hadn't returned, but the bell signaling the end of class sounded.

"You're going to go talk to him, aren't you?" Neville asked Harry as they stood.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you later." He cornered Ron just outside of the room. "Any idea what happened?" he asked.

Ron looked at him with a slight frown but shook his head. "No, none."

There was what sounded like a small whimper, and hidden in the shadows of the windowsill, was Hermione. She was sitting on it, gazing out the window at the ground below.

They shared a look and rushed over to her.

"What happened?" Ron asked urgently.

"They're… they're dead. He… he killed my entire family. Everyone… even my cousins… uncles… grandparents… They're all dead…" she whispered so quietly that it was a strain to hear. Her eyes just stared emptily out at the grounds as she kept her emotions bottled up for once. She felt, with her constant crying fits and keeping them up at the middle of the night and now the huge fight, the least she could do would to keep her emotions bottled up deep inside of her and cause no worries. But it was hard and her distressed eyes showed it.

They didn't really have to question who the 'he' was. There was a certain way that Voldemort was referred to, and Harry recognized that tone immediately.

Ron took a moment longer, but after a look from Harry he realized who it was. "God, I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Nothing… to be sorry for," she said softly and went to stand. She was shaking slightly but still, no tears were in her eyes.

"It was my fault, wasn't it?" Harry asked softly, backing away slowly to lean against the wall. "Did Dumbledore say it was because you're… friends with me?"

After a few tense moments, she gave a small nod, knowing there was no other way to tell him, and started to walk away. She wanted to lie down in her bed and cry without anyone worrying.

Harry didn't stop her, just stood where he was, legs adamantly refusing to hold him up.

Ron was torn. He didn't know if he should be with Harry or Hermione, but Harry didn't even look at him so he turned to follow her, slipping his arm around her shoulders and giving her a comforting squeeze.

She pulled away from him suddenly, and stopped walking. "I'm fine… you don't have to act like I'm going to start crying. I'm not," she said quietly, and her voice was a tone of calmness.

Ron sighed. "Look, I'll be the first to say that I'm kind of glad that You-Know-Who got a hold of your family. I mean, my first reaction would be to start a party and not end it until we were all pissed off our asses and seeing triple." He grabbed her arm and stopped her, turning her so she could look at him. "But it's gotta be a bit… I dunno, weird? That this happened, you know?"

She looked him in the eyes. "He even killed my good relatives… the ones that actually would have done something if they had found out what my father was doing…" her voice was starting to break some.

"See?" he said. "Stop acting like you're okay because you think you're burdening us. You're not and it's not healthy to bottle everything inside."

"I'm fine!" she suddenly yelled. "You have no idea what I feel or think! You haven't been through what I have so you don't know what runs through my fucked up mind! You have no idea what it feels like to lay there day after day, wondering if the oncoming will be the day you are finally killed! You have no idea how it feels like to be hoping you're killed, but at the same time, dreaming that day after day, your _FRIENDS_ would come and get you! You have no idea how it makes you feel to know, even though you haven't sent one letter, that they don't care enough to come see if you're fine! A DAMN PHONE CALL AND A FEW LETTERS DOESN'T DO MUCH WHEN YOU'RE BEING BEATEN AND ALMOST KILLED! You have no idea how it feels like to actually will yourself to come onto a train, ignoring every bit of humiliation you feel, in hopes of finding the people you care about more than LIFE BUT WHO DIDN'T EVEN CARE ENOUGH TO COME AND CHECK THAT I'M FINE! WHAT IF I HAD DIED!? YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE A DAMN THING EXCEPT FOR NOTICED I WASN'T AT SCHOOL! WHAT IF I HADN'T ESCAPED AND MY FATHER MADE UP SOME LIE!? YOU WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IT WHILE I WAS BEING KILLED EVER SO SLOWLY! You have no fucking clue how it is to have everybody you once trusted to turn around and hurt you! You don't know what it's like to hear your whole entire family is dead, ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! AND DAMN IT, BACK OFF WITH THE GOD DAMN STUDYING JOKES ABOUT ME! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS TO GO HOME YEAR AFTER YEAR TO HEAR YOUR PARENTS TELL YOU YOU COULD HAVE DONE BETTER! THAT'S ALL I HEARD! I COULD NEVER PLEASE THEM! AND NOW THIS, AND YOU PRETEND TO CARE! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY CLUE HOW IT FEELS! NONE OF IT! SO DON'T TRY AND THINK MAKING ME SAY EVERY THOUGHT ON MY MIND WILL MAKE ME FEEL BETTER BECAUSE IT JUST MAKES ME REMEMBER EVERYTHING AFTER I WORKED SO HARD TO FORGET IT!" Everything that had been built up in the past few months was escaping in the small moment and she couldn't stop it.

Ron stared at her for a moment and then shook his head. "You're right," he said. "You're right. I don't know. Is that what you want to hear? I don't know what it's like to be you and I don't know what it's like to go through what you have and I don't know what it's like to suffer when the closest I've come is having my dad attacked and then survive it. I'd take your pain if I could, but that's not good enough, is it? And that… that I understand. Because what good am _I _when the best I can do is _watch_ you suffer and not know what it's like and not know how to _handle_ it? All I can do is try and try isn't good enough, is it?"

Hermione glared at him, while shaking and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Everything was running through her head and it was all coming up that he hated her in the end. "T-That's it…" she whispered and quickly headed towards the GCR, while pulling up one of her sleeves.

He cursed and chased after her. "Don't!" he yelled, skirting around her and halting in front of her. "Don't," he said again.

She quickly walked around him, ignoring it. As she continued walking, she began to think over everything in the common room and in her room that was sharp. She wanted every image that was running through her head to stop and this was the only way she could think of.

He grabbed her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I said _don't_," he said, his voice almost a whimper. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled… I'm sorry about everything, God, I am _so _fucking sorry."

"I hate you," she whispered quietly. "I hate you for caring so much… I hate you so much… Y-you can't c-care that m-m-much…" she said as tears began to fall faster.

"Why can't I?" he asked. "Because you think you don't deserve it? You _do_, okay? You do."

"T-That… and b-because I w-w-want to f-forget… and I-I c-can't if s-someo-one c-cares…" she managed to say coherently, without letting the sobs mess up her voice too much.

"Well, I won't stop caring about you," he said. "So you'll have to figure out a way to forget with me around."

She collapsed to the ground, crying. Every memory was supposed to be forgotten, every problem, and yet there was one of the few good things in her life actually keeping her from that goal and she couldn't handle it.

He followed her to the floor, pulling her back against his chest and rocking her back and forth. He wasn't turning his back on her. Not again. Never again.

She continued sobbing and after many grueling moments involving her managing to lock her memories and problems up for the thousandth time, just so she could be sensible enough that she could actually manage sentences while looking mostly fine, the tears finally stopped.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, rubbing his hands over her arms soothingly.

"I want Harry here too…" she whispered quietly. "I want you two to be friends again. I want the problems I cause to go away…"

"Then we'll talk to him. I'll apologize and it'll be all right," he said. "D'you want to go look for him?"

She gave a small nod and slowly brought her sleeve back down. Pushing herself up on weak legs, her hand went up to wipe away any tears she had left remaining.

Ron stood and they made their way back down the hallway to where they'd left him by the window. The halls were empty with everyone at lunch, which Ron was happy about. He didn't want to field any questions. He'd already been in one shouting match, followed by Hermione's bout of crying, and this was going to be between the three of them and stay between the three of them.

She slowly walked next to him, determined to keep the rest of her emotions bottled up, though it was challenging. She had to keep repeating that nothing was wrong, that everything was fine. Still inside of her were tons of memories and the fresh fact that her family was dead. She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice the statue that she almost walked into until Ron grabbed her arm and pulled her out of a painful path. With a blink then a sigh, she whispered, "Thanks."

He nodded. "No problem."

Finally they got back to the spot where they had last seen Harry, while Hermione ran a fingernail gently over her wrist, just hard enough to skin it slightly. She was hoping Ron didn't see, but couldn't stop herself for some reason. It was, somehow, making her memories leave and let her be in peace for once.

He hadn't moved from the spot. Well, he had. He was now on the floor, legs up to his chest, head to his knees and arms hugging his shins. He didn't seem to be moving at all and the sight of him made Ron's heart ache.

Hermione, for once having the tables turned on her, slowly sunk down next to him. "Harry?" she whispered, her voice almost breaking as she hesitantly put a hand on his back, rubbing it gently. Her heart was hurting by seeing him like this, and she wondered faintly if this was how Ron and Harry felt every time they saw her crying or something similar.

He hitched in a breath but didn't move otherwise.

Ron frowned slightly and went down on his knees in front of him. "Harry?" he asked hesitantly.

There was still no answer.

"Harry… I…" she trailed off and just continued to rub his back gently. Glancing at her wrist, she quickly grabbed the robe and twisted it so that some blood that was seeping through wasn't visible. She had no clue what to do and she was really worried about Harry.

He lifted his head slowly and used a shaking hand to push his bangs off of his forehead slightly. "Yeah?" he said in a dead voice, like he didn't really notice them or didn't really care.

"T-This is my fault…" she sighed. She hadn't thought over anything and hated herself for telling him that Dumbledore said it was his fault.

"Your fault?" Harry repeated in a choked voice. "This isn't your fault. It's my fault. It's… just… never mind. It doesn't matter I guess."

"It's not your fault Harry. Maybe they are d-dead because of me being so close to you but… it was my choice to be friends with you. And I'm still friends with you. I don't care what the consequences are, because I do love you more than life," she whispered. It held the same for Ron, but suddenly she noticed she admitted loving him and hoped beyond all hopes she didn't just screw something up.

He looked up at her and then at Ron who was nodding in agreement. He didn't know what to say. A part of him wanted to tell her that he cared because this was the story of his life. People suffered because of him. He hated it. Hated his existence because of it and, really, wasn't Hermione better off it was just her and Ron? He'd gotten tired of himself back in fifth year, biting people's heads off over nothing, or what was something to him and nothing to them. Since then he'd been less outspoken, more introverted. His problems were just that: his problems. So instead of saying anything, least of all what he wanted to say, he just sighed and leaned his head forward again.

"Harry… please just talk to us. We can handle it," she whispered. "We're your friends. We want to help you through things… Please." In her voice was love and worry, but she knew from experience that it did help to say what they felt. Even if it did bring back memories, Ron and Harry had helped her through them and helped her realize that they were there for her and she only wanted to return the favor, but most of all, to show she did love him and the only way she could do it, that she knew of, was by helping him through this.

"Maybe you two should leave," he said softly.

"Don't even think that," Ron said angrily. "We're staying right here until you talk to us."

"Just talk to us," she said softly as her arms slipped around him in a gentle hug. "We're not going to leave until you do." One of her hands slowly moved up and sifted very gently through his hair in a comforting way that she hoped would help.

He let out a ragged breath. "I don't want to hurt you," he murmured. "You're better off with each other, far away from me."

Hermione could only let a small smile escape. "That's bullshit and you know it," she whispered with a bitter humor. She wasn't going to desert him. He hadn't taken the easy way out with Ron during their fight, and she wasn't going to take the easy way out. Since the end of their first year, she knew that she would rather die for them instead of being happy, and alive while either one of them were miserable or dead.

"Yeah," Ron added. "We aren't scared. We're your _friends_. Friends don't abandon each other when things get a bit hairy."

Harry snorted. "'A bit hairy'? Are you serious? You're telling me you'd both _die_ for me? Because that's what'll happen if you stay with me. You'll suffer and you'll die."

Ron glanced over at Hermione and nodded slowly. "Yeah. We'll die for you. We'll suffer for you. And if we can, we'll die with you and suffer with you. But you've gotta let us in."

Harry just gave a dry sob and buried his face in his arms again.

Hermione watched him, running her hand through his hair still. "Harry, you and Ron are the only people I have anymore. You've done so much for me that I can't even explain it. Any moment of any day without even a second thought, I'd die the most horrible death just to know that you're safe. I'm your friend, and more… and I'm pretty sure that proves it. We want to help you but you have to let us in. I know it's hard but… please. Just tell us," she whispered softly into his ear in a comforting way.

He was fraying at the edges. He could feel his control slipping away and it was harder to breathe now. He didn't want to tell them. _Push them away, push them away, pushthemaway_, his mind was chanting. _Save them. _He wanted to. He wanted to have this but he wanted… he wanted so much.

"Harry, please," she whispered again. She wanted to yell that the only way for him to feel better was for him to tell them, and that she loved him enough to want to know everything he felt, but she knew it would make everything worse and knew it was just from her worrying. "I'm not going to leave you. Not even if you tell me you hate me. I love you and care for you too much. _Please_," she said almost desperately.

He let out another dry sob. "I'm scared," he said, voice breaking.

Hermione looked up at Ron for help. "Why?" she whispered softly. Her hand continued to sift through his hair gently but for some reason, it seemed like she was a bit too familiar with this because of the way her voice held care, love and no worry, even though it was clear she was beyond distressed, and the gentle moving of her hand through his hair while the other held his curled body close to her.

Ron waited for Harry to speak again, but he didn't. His body was shaking and Hermione kept looking at him. Finally he leaned forward, one hand around his neck, the other resting on his knee. He pressed his forehead against Harry's hair, Hermione's fingers centimeters away, and sighed, ruffling the dark strands. "Why, Harry? Why're you scared?"

It was strange the way one minute he was somewhat in control and the next the air in his lungs shuddered out, this time on a proper sob. His fingers sought and found the fabric of Ron's robes and clung to it, his head finding it's way to his shoulder. "I don't want to see either of you hurt," he managed to get out. "I don't want to see you suffer or die and know it's my fault. I don't want to lose you."

Hermione frowned. "Harry, either you can lose us now and you can never look at us again, let alone talk to us, or you can have a small chance of losing us later on. We can help you like we have before. We can get through everything together. Just believe us," she whispered softly and comfortingly. "I would rather have more memories, even if it means I die, then just never speaking to you again." She knew in the end, he was probably going to lose them one way or another but she wanted to be with him as long as possible, even if she had to die for it.

Ron nodded, his cheek moving against Harry's temple. "This is what I want. What we want. When we die, in a year or ten, we'll always have this and he can't take it away."

Hermione gave a small smile. "We care, Harry. We really do. I want as many memories of all of us together that I can have, and no one will ever stop that."

Harry couldn't speak. He wanted this and he didn't. He wanted to love them freely and in that moment he wished for things to be different. He felt them both, surrounding him and comforting him and giving themselves to him and he wanted to run. But he couldn't. He just bit his lip until it bled and clutched Ron closer and swallowed back the cries that lodged in the back of his throat and made his whole body ache.

Hermione's arms slowly moved to hug Harry and she looked up at Ron. Her breath was slightly ragged but she began to rub Harry's back again. "Let it out. Cry. It'll make you feel better in the long run," she whispered gently into Harry's ear, knowing it from great experience.

Harry's body shuddered between them, silent tears soaking the skin of Ron's neck but he didn't care.

He just held on tighter, murmuring to him. The words didn't make sense, but they seemed to help and after a few minutes Harry's sobs subsided.

Hermione just rubbed Harry's back softly still. She was trying to figure out why it felt so familiar, and then finally realized. With eyes going a bit empty, she willed her body not to show that she was starting to become upset. It was hard to tell so she was hoping that, beyond all hopes, Harry wouldn't notice.

Both Ron and Harry noticed her stiffen up.

"What is it?" Ron asked softly.

Hermione shot Ron a look that read for him not to ask. Harry couldn't find out… she couldn't let him. Not when he was like this. Eyes filled with emptiness, she continued to run her hand over his back.

Ron sighed and Harry straightened, pulling away.

"What is it?" he asked with a cautious frown.

Ron shrugged, not quite sure himself, and looked away.

He turned to Hermione. "Hermione? What is it?"

Hermione shook her head. "N-Nothing," she responded with her voice breaking slightly. "You okay?" she asked, wanting him to stop asking her.

"I…" he frowned. "No. Not if you aren't."

"I'm perfectly fine." She wasn't and her eyes were filled with emptiness but she wanted him to be fine..

Harry narrowed his eyes at her and stood up with a glare. "You aren't," he said softly, and angrily. "But apparently it's okay for you to deal with this on your own even if I can't. Which is just… bullshit." He rolled his eyes. "That's all that was. Pointless bullshit."

Hermione looked down. "It's just…" He was right. She was being a hypocrite but she wanted him to be fine, but now he was going to be mad at her. "It's just… I forgot about the only family m-member I cared a-about…"

His eyes softened and he sat back down slowly.

"Who was it?" Ron asked.

She let out a ragged breath. "M-My brother…" she was wishing she had told them now, as it seemed so hard.

"You had a… brother?" Harry said hesitantly.

"We never knew about him," Ron added.

"I didn't… I was embarrassed to tell you…" Quickly, she stood. "There. I'm fine n-now. I just h-have t-to…" she stopped to clear her throat some. "Rest," she finished, and the attempts to make her voice stop breaking failed as on that one word, it broke all together.

Ron and Harry both surged to their feet. "Nah, you aren't fine," Ron said as the boys wrapped their arms around her. "But it's okay to not be fine."

Hermione bit her lower lip then closed her eyes. "It's… he… he was going to turn five in two months…"

They all stood there, arms around each other drawing in harsh breaths and feeling the weight of the world, thought not for the first time.

"I'm so sorry," Harry groaned into someone's hair.

"It's not y-your f-fault…" she whispered as she tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill.

"It is," he said. "But even if it wasn't I'd still be sorry."

Ron laughed, the sound without any true happiness. "This is all just royally fucked up isn't it?"

Hermione didn't respond, but just fought with herself not to cry.

"Thought you told me it was okay to cry," Harry said into her ear.

With those simple words, she began to cry into the nearest neck she could find, which happened to be Harry's. Her legs felt about ready to collapse on her but she tried not to fall.

It was about that time that Ron realized that they were standing in the middle of a hallway and lunch was probably close to ending. "Maybe we should leave," he suggested quietly into Harry's ear.

"When she's feeling better," he replied, just as softly.

She continued crying for a few minutes, mumbling words that made no sense or that were hard to hear. Finally, the tears slowed but didn't stop and she stepped away from them. "I w-want to go b-back to the c-common r-r-room…" she whispered as the tears continued to drop.

"Okay," Ron said gently. "Let's go."

* * *

Hope you guys didn't mind that whole entire 'I have a brother' thing but… yeah okay. Well, the story is really getting good and I have LOTS more. Like another 5 chapters worth that I just have to put into story form and probably will have more soon. Hope ya'll like and REVIEW!

And sorry… it seemed sort of rushed. Maybe it didn't seem that way to you but it did to me. .


	7. It's Hard To Always Avoid Tragedies

Okay, this chapter is longer than normal (but I think I only think that but in reality, it's normal) but I wanted to actually do to a cliffhanger. So… ha! Bwahahahaha! Eh you guys are gonna kill me .

* * *

She walked to the common room and stopped in front of it the painting, with tears still running down her face. Not being able to remember the password, she just waited for Harry or Ron to say it.

Ron muttered the password and refused to answer any of the Fat Lady's questions. They stepped into the Common Room to see Seamus, Neville and Dean sprawled across the floor finishing up a homework assignment they'd left off.

Hermione just walked towards the staircase to the boy's dorms. She wanted to be with Harry and Ron and not have questions to answer. Dumbledore said that they were excused from classes once again for 3 days if they needed it, and she just wanted to be with Harry and Ron. She could feel the stares of Seamus, Neville and Dean on her but tried her best to ignore them.

"You're all talking again then?" Seamus said after a moment.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and nodded.

"We won't bother you," Neville said as they made their way up to the dorm.

"So take care of each other," Seamus ordered and Dean nodded before they turned back to their homework, mumbling about the proper pronunciations of certain charms.

As soon as she was in the room, she collapsed on Ron's bed, staring out the window blankly. Unlike if Ron lost Ginny, it was like Hermione had lost a son. Since her brother was born, she had been the one that would comfort him when their parents fought, the one that cooked meals for them, the one that washed his clothes, made sure he took showers, set up every appointment, made sure he went to bed, comforted him when he had nightmares. He had looked to her like his real mother, and she looked to him almost as her son. He luckily always went to their aunt's house who took very good care of him when Hermione was gone but she couldn't look after him during the summer because her own kids came home from boarding schools. It was tearing her up, but she didn't want to show Harry because she was scared he would break down again.

Harry and Ron made their way into the room, Harry pausing long enough to close the door before joining Ron and Hermione on Ron's bed.

Hermione stared out of the window and slowly laid down on the bed. "I miss Ian…" she whispered softly.

Ron laid down beside her, Harry doing the same on her other side. "I know," the redhead murmured near her ear, lips brushing her jaw line. "I know."

She shuddered just slightly, not minding it. "My family was so messed up… the first word he said was calling me his mother. That is not normal, especially when I was only around him for like three months out of a year."

"Were you a mother to him?" Harry asked, his breath tickling the hair around her other ear.

She gave a small sigh of comfort. "Maybe… I mean, I did everything a mother is supposed to do for their child from making food to him, having him in my room when he was still a baby and waking up in the middle of the night, to comforting him when my father or mother yelled and sometimes when they hurt him for doing what any kid does." Slowly, she was realizing why he called her that and she closed her eyes.

"He was lucky to have you," Ron said with a small smile. "You can be a bit high strung, but you like to love people. So I'm sure you were good to him."

Tears slipped from her closed eyes. "I was so embarrassed… my father said my mother had had an affair, and said if I told anyone about Ian that I'd be in trouble. And even back then, he h-hurt me…" she whispered quietly as she tried to control herself from crying. She didn't want to because the feeling of never being able to stop was getting stronger and stronger.

Ron wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and sighed softly. "He's a bastard, Hermione. And he'll get what he deserves some day."

"I was going to tell you about what he did during our fourth year. I don't know why I didn't… I guess I was just embarrassed or something," she murmured.

"You don't have to be embarrassed with us," Harry said. "You can tell us anything."

She smiled softly and opened her eyes. They were filled with some sadness but nowhere near as much as before. "I love you two so much," she whispered then closed her eyes, forgetting that she hadn't told Harry about how she loved both of them.

He didn't seem to find anything out of the ordinary with her comment, saying 'We love you, too' softly.

Ron decided he didn't know yet. Didn't know that Hermione meant more than just friendly love. It was something he'd tried not to think about, really. He didn't know what that meant for him and Harry if she was in love with both of them and he wasn't sure he was ready to know or wanted to know. So he just smiled and squeezed her softly. "Yeah, we love you too."

Hermione leaned and kissed Harry's lips for a moment, then Ron's as she then figured that Ron had told Harry at some point. "Good," she replied after she stopped kissing Ron.

Harry blinked, looked at Ron with wide eyes.

Ron just bit his lip and mouthed, 'We'll talk later.'

Harry nodded and sighed softly.

She looked at Harry when she felt that something was wrong. A glance at Ron told her he hadn't told Harry yet and she sighed, then looked at Harry with a nervous grin.

He raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" he asked, playing dumb.

She shook her head with a sigh and closed her eyes. If he wanted to pretend like he had no clue, then she wouldn't tell him about it.

He sighed again. "Look, it's just a bit weird, all right? You kiss me then Ron and I seem to be the only one who has no clue what it's about."

Hermione opened her eyes. "That's because I told Ron about it after we made up. But you were near ignoring me so I couldn't tell you about my feelings. And, to hopefully clear some of it up…" she didn't know that it would be this hard to tell him, but it was. "When I said 'I love you two so much,' I didn't mean in a friendship way."

He leaned up on his elbow to look down at her. "You mean, you're in love with both of us?"

She gave a small nod. "Yeah… and I'm sure because I've known it since last year."

He flopped back down beside her. "What do you… how is this supposed to… what do we do now?"

She shrugged. "I've thought it over and over and it seems the only way I can have the two things I want is for you two to be going out too," she responded. "Doubt that's going to happen." She actually had considered it more than once by the way Ron and Harry acted but she wasn't going to actually say that.

Green eyes met blue over Hermione's body.

"You mean… the three of us… together?" Ron said.

"Which means me and Ron would be together?" Harry continued.

Hermione gave a nod to each of their questions. After quickly contemplating if she should even mention it, she admitted, "You two do act more friendly than any best friends I've ever seen." And when Harry had been having the breakdown, it was shown again.

"Well, um…" Ron trailed off weakly and Harry didn't say anything at all. It was true. Seamus had teased them about it more than once, and more than once they'd rolled with it to make kissy faces at each other or hug always eliciting a laugh from their housemates. But they'd never taken it seriously… had they?

"And even today, it was proven. I mean… let's face it. If Neville was having a breakdown for some reason, Seamus would try and help but wouldn't be that… I don't know, friendly," she said.

"That's…" What to say to that? They looked at each other again, both flushing, before looking away.

Hermione looked from Ron to Harry back to Ron. "Maybe… I just shouldn't have said anything."

"No, it's okay," Ron rushed to assure her. "It's just, er, not something we've thought about."

Harry nodded. "You know, I guess we are friendlier than most friends. If that makes any sense."

Hermione gave a smile. "It does. Just, you're a lot friendlier. It's almost like… no, never mind," she said quickly as she cut herself off then looked up so she wouldn't have to look at their questioning eyes.

"Almost like what?" Harry prodded.

"Yeah, Hermione. What?"

"Er, well, um, sort of like, you two… I dunno. It was stupid." She saw their eyes and saw the look in them and sighed. "Fine. You act like you two like each other. And I don't mean friend wise. You… actually act like you two are going out. That's how friendly you two are."

Which was certainly something to think about. Did they like each other? Was there something there that 'just friends' didn't have?

"We'll think about it," Harry said finally, after staring at Ron so long his friend's ears had started to burn red.

Hermione blinked, surprised that he actually said that. She tried to think of something to say and just ended on a smile, but then tried to figure out what to say to break a very uneasy silence that surrounded them.

The three of them looked at each other, feeling awkward and embarrassed.

And then Ron snorted, trying to hold in a laugh.

Harry shot him a look that said distinctly, 'This is _not_ funny' which made Ron snort again. Apparently Harry's exasperated sigh of, "Ron." was too much.

He buried his head in Hermione's shoulder, body shaking with silent laughs and the occasional snort.

Hermione blinked, having no clue why he was laughing. She sighed, just laying there and letting him laugh.

"Ron, now's really not the time…"

"It feels good," he said between chuckles. "You should try it."

Harry opened his mouth to reply but squealed instead when Ron's hand found it's way to the almost painfully ticklish spot just above his hips.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at Harry's reaction to Ron's hand.

"Stop!" Harry said, his voice high-pitched and choked with giggles.

"Nah, this is fun," Ron said, waggling his eyebrows at Hermione.

Hermione looked at Ron then grinned, deciding in joining in and began to tickle the parallel spot above Harry's hips, as she could manage to reach it from her spot.

"Argh!" he yelped, rolling onto his back and laughing. "Oh… God… stop!" he said breathlessly. "This… _sonotfair_!" And then he was laughing too hard to say anything else, instead trying to evade the hands tickling him mercilessly.

She laughed softly at him and continued, not realizing that it was the first time in a long time all three were happy and laughing without remembering any of their problems.

It took a bit of maneuvering, and neither even noticed, but Harry finally managed to escape by rolling off the bed. He landed with a dramatic groan, counted to three, and sure enough…

"Shit, Harry! Are you all right?"

And he couldn't answer because, once again, he was laughing too hard.

Hermione leaned over the bed, looking at him with wide eyes then shot him a playful glare.

He grasped the edge of the bed and sat up, still laughing.

"Damn it, that's not funny," Ron said with a glare.

"You deserved it!" Harry announced, getting back on the bed.

Ron just stuck his tongue out and Harry reciprocated in kind with a smug smile.

She leaned back while gazing up at the two of them with a look that read, 'told you.' She had never seen any guy best friends tickling one another, but it wasn't that she minded it as it amused her to huge lengths.

Ron coughed slightly. "Okay, you're right."

Harry nodded, still smiling slightly.

Hermione smiled softly. "That was fun," she said with a smile. "And you… were incredibly amusing and are extremely ticklish," she said while gazing at Harry.

Harry snorted. "Yes, and I was terribly exploited," he said. "I can't help being ticklish."

Ron laughed. "It's fun to just threaten him, though," he said to her. "Try it some time. Just move your hand to the general area and he goes spare."

She chuckled. "Well, now I know what to do if you won't do something for me," she threatened softly. "And I wonder if you're ticklish," she inquired while looking at Ron.

He shook his head. "Course not. Ginny's extremely ticklish, though. So's Percy. So's Bill, for that matter." He lapsed into thought and Harry smirked.

"He's not, trust me. But, according to him, he just looooves having his ears nibbled on." He burst out laughing at the look Ron shot him. "Your words, not mine!" he yelled as Ron tickled him again.

Hermione couldn't help but burst out laughing also. "And… just wondering, how would you know?" she asked him as she stopped Ron's moving hands just so she could get a coherent answer.

He narrowed his eyes, still panting. "Hermione you pervy girl, you," he said. "Ron told me of course! We were having a real male discussion, you know, and got around to turn-ons and stuff." He glanced slyly at Ron. "He blushed redder than Neville when he told us about it."

She covered her mouth so she could control the laughs that threatened to burst out. "Y-You all actually… have discussions?!" she asked when she was able to stop laughing.

"Of course we do Hermione," Ron said, looking two parts shocked and one part affronted. "It's what proper blokes do. Talk about girls and Quidditch and girls."

"That's bloody great," she said as she sat up, still trying not to laugh. She had had a few discussions with the girls in her dorm, but they were simple ones about how far each girl had gotten and with whom, or how far they would like to get with different guys and never went as far as turn-ons. Suddenly, she looked at Ron with a hard stare. "And how exactly would you know that is a turn-on?" He had told her he had kissed only Lavender on the lips, and now she was wondering if he had lied.

He flushed. "Er, I didn't know… not really. So I made it up."

Harry let out a sharp laugh. "Are you bloody serious?"

"Well it's a good guess, isn't it? I know my body well enough to know my ears are sensitive."

Harry was positively rolling on the bed clutching his stomach now.

"For a second there, thought you lied to me…" she said with a small grin and then got an idea. She leaned forward and took a small bit of his ear into her mouth and nibbled just gently, wondering if he knew his body well enough or not. Every muscle in her body was terrified for some reason but she tried to ignore it.

Ron bit his lip and moaned softly.

Harry stopped laughing and looked up to see Hermione nibbling on Ron's ear, the red-head's eyes sliding closed.

"See?" he said softly. "I was right."

She continued for a moment then sat back with a smile. "I'll have to remember that little trick."

Ron nodded and looked at her. "Yeah, you will," he said huskily, which made Harry snort and shake his head in an affectionate way.

Hermione's cheeks flushed as she saw the result of her doing.

There was another awkward silence in which no one really knew what to say. Hermione's blush was adorable, and Ron's pupils were still dilated. Harry thought it was one of the cutest things he'd ever seen. In that strange way that was sexy at the same time.

She idly played with a strand of her hair with the blush still staining her cheeks as she tried to think of something, anything to say.

Harry and Ron didn't have anything to say either and settled back down on either side of Hermione, wrapping their arms around her.

Giving a sigh of comfort, the blush finally left. She grabbed them gently and pulled them close to her so she could nuzzle into both of them at the same time.

* * *

A week later Gryffindor Tower was a decidedly happier place to live. Everyone who knew Harry, Ron and Hermione had suffered under their thundercloud for the three weeks they weren't all talking. Now they were once again the trio everyone knew and loved. Or, maybe not. There were changes in them that Seamus, Dean, Neville and Ginny had noticed. Even Luna Lovegood and Colin Creevy had asked about it.

Hermione was eating some eggs and bacon, while she read over a book she had gotten from the library. Even if her study habits had been cut in almost half, she still read as much, if not more.

Ron groaned as he sat next to her. "Ah, Hermione. No reading at breakfast. Lunch maybe, since Harry and I still have a Transfiguration assignment to finish."

Looking up from her book, she smiled some and put the book away. "Fine." She continued to eat some until she finally grabbed her hair and pulled it back, and put it into a sloppy ponytail. In the month that had passed, it had grown long enough where she could put it back into a ponytail. And the length was starting to annoy her so she always brought a hair tie with her, even though she usually left it down.

"So, our first Hogsmeade weekend's coming up. What do you guys wanna do?" Ron asked, chewing on a piece of bacon.

Harry shrugged, his mouth full and looked to Hermione for an answer.

Hermione looked at both of them and then also shrugged. "Maybe go visit your brothers? See how they're doing?"

Ron nodded but the voice that answered wasn't his. "Great idea." The three looked across at Seamus who was grinning at them.

"We're out of dungbombs, aren't we Neville? So you can just pick some up for us."

"Oh, well, I could use some more Skiving Snackboxes, I'm all out," Neville added sheepishly.

"Yeah, and I've been meaning to try out those new Tattoo You quills. I think I want something a bit patriotic. You know, for the first Quidditch match of the season," Dean said.

Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled some. She still found most of the items mean, rude and should be banned from existing but did laugh when someone switched the normal soap for Frog Spawn Soap on Pansy the year before, giving her skin similar to a frog's for a week, and sometimes had found it funny when other pranks had been pulled too.

"Shall we make a list?" Seamus asked with a huge grin.

Harry and Ron rolled their eyes. "Fine," Ron said. "Don't see why you can't do it yourselves, though."

She gave a nod then took a drink of some juice.

"Well, you guys will already be there, so is there really _any_ reason for us to go out of our way?" Seamus asked. "Besides, you're good friends and we're taking advantage."

"And you're all just lazy," she said simply with a raised brow and a small teasing grin.

"That too," Seamus admitted and Neville and Dean nodded in agreement.

Ron rolled his eyes. "We ought to say no, but we're too nice for our own good." he said. "So give the list to Harry."

"Why me?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'll lose it. You know how I am," Ron said simply.

"Harry might lose it to. I'll take it. Along with the money that you're going to give us to pay for everything," she said, wanting to make it clear that she wasn't going to pay for anything out of her own pocket since she was probably poorer than Ron at the moment.

"Right. In the meantime we'd better get ready for class. Breakfast's almost over." The three boys rose and waved good-bye.

"See you later, kiddies," Seamus said with a teasing wink.

"Bloody wanker," Ron muttered under his breath when he was gone.

* * *

Hermione, Ron and Harry made their way towards Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes with a bag pretty full of money, and a list in which half of the items were strictly banned from Hogwarts. "I can not believe we're actually getting everything for them," Hermione said under her breath and sighed as she grabbed the doorknob.

"It's out of the sheer goodness of our hearts Hermione," Ron said. "If we weren't such upstanding citizens we would take the money and run."

Harry snorted and fended off the backhanded swat to his stomach, grabbing Ron's wrist and sticking his tongue out at him.

"Sure," Hermione said as she opened the door to the shop. About ready to walk in, she froze in place with wide eyes as she saw Fred and George making out rather forcefully.

"What is it?" Harry asked, trying to peer around her shoulder. "Oh."

"What?" Ron said before sighing and pushing his two practically frozen friends into the shop and quickly closing the door. "You two should really be more careful," he said. "Look, you've gone and scarred Harry and Hermione for life."

Fred broke the kiss and grinned while trying to catch his breath.

"What… Ron… but… you knew?" Hermione asked after she regained her composure.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I had the… pleasure of walking in them making out over the summer." He walked over to his brothers and slapped them both on the back of the head.

"Ow, shit little brother what was that for?" George asked with a smirk.

"For corrupting poor innocents."

"Ah, but its what we do best."

Fred grinned. "Of course."

"But… you're brothers! _Twin_ brothers!" Hermione said, not sure if she was disgusted or entranced.

"Well spotted, Hermione," George teased.

Harry blinked slowly and then shook his head. "Why did I not see this coming?" he wondered aloud.

She just sighed and looked away, trying not to figure out what she thought about the situation.

Fred looked at her pocket, which was bulging some with the money. "What do you need?" he asked, wanting to get the money. He wasn't a Malfoy but he had learned in the little less than a year and a half how important money was.

"We've got a list," Ron said, grabbing it from the still shocked Hermione. "Apparently we're taking requests now."

"Ah, my little brother, the Hogwarts Middle Man," which made Harry laugh so hard he snorted and apparently he didn't care because he was practically doubled over.

Hermione took out the money, trying not to laugh. Placing the bag on the counter, she watched as Fred grabbed the list from Ron and began to read over it.

"You're going to have a bit of difficulty bringing this all back," he said with a small grin. His voice was a bit soft though, and he was feeling slightly dizzy.

George looked over at him, concerned. "You should sit down. I told you a hot and heavy snog session in the middle of the day when you're sick wouldn't do anyone any good." He sighed, took the list and ushered his twin into a comfortable and safe chair, one of the few items in the store that wasn't charmed.

Fred sat in the chair, giving a sigh. "I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy. I'm not sick," he said.

Hermione looked at Fred with a blink then furrowed her brow in concern when he began to cough badly.

George rolled his eyes. "Not sick, he says. As soon as we close up I'm taking him to the apothecary to get him checked out. In the meantime, I'll take care of this list for you three," he said.

"I'm not sick. You're not taking me anywhere," Fred muttered after he finished coughing.

Hermione looked at Ron.

"You're an idiot," Ron said, shaking his head.

"I'll second that," George said, going about the store and picking up the items. "Anyway, how's school been for you lot? Heard a rumor that you've had it rough."

"Understatement of the year," Harry said, examining the different patterns for the Tattoo You Quills.

"Yeah," Hermione said quietly as she looked around the store for anything that she could use.

"What exactly happened?" Fred asked after another coughing bout.

Hermione was luckily in an isle at the time and was glad no one could see her as she bit her lower lip and then busied herself in expecting an Ever-Bashing Boomerangs.

Ron sighed. "Lots of bullshit happened," he said. "Maybe we'll tell you about it someday. When you're older."

Fred looked at Ron with a look that read, 'We're older than you' and was about ready to say it to before he had another coughing fit for a few moments and groaned in pain. His throat was killing him but he was trying not to show it.

George looked at his brother and sighed. "You know, that's it. Come on." He walked over to grab him by the arm. He yanked him out of the chair and propelled him toward the door. "You three watch things for us, okay? And grab whatever else you need, and one thing each, on the house. I'm taking this one for something to help that damned throat of his."

Fred sighed, trudging behind him.

Hermione looked at Ron and Harry then leaned against the wall. "Great…" she murmured, not really wanting to spend that long there. She wanted to get more quills and ink before the day was over, and hoped the two would be back soon.

"You could go get your quills and things if you wanted," Harry said. "We can take care of things here."

"If they don't come back in a few minutes, I will," she replied as she leaned against the wall. About ten minutes finally passed, and she stood, going towards the door and opening it. Her eyes widened as soon as she opened it and she slammed it closed and slowly backed away, eyes still wide. Shouts and screams were suddenly sounding from out in the road as Death Eaters ran throughout the streets, grabbing students and stunning others.

"What is it?" Harry asked, glancing out of one of the windows and cursing.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Is there a back room?" Harry asked, grabbing Hermione's hand and edging them away from the door.

Ron nodded.

"Death Eaters. All over. We need to get in there."

* * *

Um… hope you guys didn't mind the pairing. And… argh. Why do I think I now have to reasons to die? Oh, because I do! Cliffhanger and a usually hated and shunned pairing! Oh well! Now that you've read, review!


	8. Friends Gone And Old Plans Resurrected

Here you go! And I'm glad no one flamed about the pairing we introduced last chapter… XD

And really, this is the longest story I've ever done So be happy!

* * *

Hermione quickly followed Ron and Harry hastily into the back ground, and as soon as the door was shut and blocked with the three inside of it, the front door was thrown open and many footsteps and crashing noises were able to be heard from the front room.

Harry had never been too good in dark, enclosed spaces. Not with the years spent in that damned cupboard. But now was not the time to panic, not with Hermione and Ron shaking like twin leaves behind him. And speaking of twins… God, so many out there were their friends and more than two were Ron's siblings. Ginny, she had to be okay. And Fred and George and Seamus and Neville and Dean and he could _not_ panic.

Hermione was trying not to whimper in fear but suddenly gave a small yelp that made her throw her hands over her mouth as she jumped when someone tried to open the door to the back room. Shaking badly and whimpering very quietly, she tried not to start crying but she was terrified and thinking of everyone that could be captured.

Harry pushed both Hermione and Ron behind himself, Ron wrapping his arm around her and cradling her head with one hand, holding his wand out with the other.

The door continued to rattle some until after a few seconds, a deep voice told the person to give up and they quickly retreated.

Hermione bit her lower lip and closed her eyes, still terrified.

They stayed huddled in the darkness for several minutes. Minutes that progressed and lengthened and none of them felt like moving. It just didn't feel safe. Nowhere felt safe.

After about five minutes, Hermione broke down crying. The weekend was supposed to be a happy one, filled with shopping and butterbeers and just all around fun, but it had turned into a nightmare. Friends and relatives were now taken away and captured, while others were possibly hurt.

"Shhh," Ron murmured, holding her tightly and fighting down his own fear.

"H-How could this h-happen?!" she cried into his chest. She was still afraid to be loud as traps or people could be waiting out in the front room, but she couldn't help it.

"We'll find out, Hermione," Harry said quietly. "As soon as we get back to Hogwarts. For now let's just stay calm, okay?"

She slowly closed her eyes, trying to calm down. It was hard but slowly, she began to calm down.

"Should we, um, chance leaving?" Ron asked. They'd been hiding for so long, standing tense and waiting for the worst, that their feet were aching slightly. It had to be over, didn't it? But Ron wasn't sure and Harry didn't want to take any chances.

"I… don't hear anything else," Hermione whispered quietly. The back room had an exit that led to an alleyway, and the screams and shouts that had been sounding before were gone now, and she hoped it was just all over.

"Then let's try it," Harry said.

Ron nodded.

"Out the front?"

She just wiped away the remaining tears, not caring which way.

"Yeah, okay," Ron said.

"Wands ready," Harry breathed as they inched toward the door. He pushed it open slowly. It snagged on a toppled display case and he and Ron had to put their full weight on it, but eventually it swung open revealing the store to be a mess. Broken glass glittered on the floor, spilled inks and potions and other assorted items were all over the place. The front door had been blasted off of its hinges, leaving them to look out on an eerily empty expanse of road.

Hermione's hand was shaking as her wand was at her side. "This… but…" she couldn't come up with a single sensible sentence, and slowly made her way through the debris. "It's a good thing I waited and looked outside," she whispered quietly, trying not to think of what would have happened if she hadn't seen.

They stepped outside and noticed that most other shops were in similar states of destruction. They looked around, Ron feeling sick to his stomach. "This is horrible," he said weakly.

She gave a nod, looking around. "This… maybe we should get back to Hogwarts right away and make sure everyone is fine."

"You're sure?" Harry asked. A part of him wanted to check around town first, but it probably wasn't the safest way to do things.

"There still may be Death Eaters around here," she whispered quietly. "We really should just go back to Hogwarts and find out who was taken or hurt." She was very shaken up and it was pretty clear.

"Okay," Harry said and Ron nodded. "Let's hurry."

In half the time it normally took, they were back at Hogwarts. Many students were in the Great Hall or the hospital wing, talking about hurt friends or getting their wounds tended.

"D'you think we should go to the hospital wing first?" Ron asked as they started up a staircase.

"Yeah," Harry said. "At least someone there should know who made it back."

Hermione nodded, heading towards it. Once they got in there, she gasped quietly. So many people were hurt that barely anyone could actually move around in the room. Beds were crammed next to each other and Madame Pomfrey seemed to never stop running around. Hermione looked around for anyone that could answer their questions and found where Seamus and Neville were laying. Slowly, she weaved her way through the beds to get to them.

Harry and Ron followed slowly, trying not to stare at the students who were laid up in beds moaning or bleeding.

Hermione finally got over to the two and looked at Ron and Harry. Luckily, Seamus and Neville weren't that badly hurt, so she watched him. "Who… who didn't make it back?" she asked quietly, a bit scared to find out.

Seamus frowned. "We don't know yet," he said with a groan. "Oh, my head fuckin' hurts!"

"Calm down,

" Neville said, since Seamus was showing signs of panicking. He took several deep breaths that didn't work and squeezed his eyes shut, body trembling.

"Dean and Ginny made it, didn't they?" Neville asked anxiously.

Seamus opened his eyes wide and stared at them, waiting for the answer.

Hermione quickly glanced around the room and her eyes widened in horror. "Oh god… maybe… maybe they're in the Great Hall," she said as she looked at the horrified Ron.

Ron nodded dumbly. "Yeah… yeah, let's go check. Please."

Harry and Hermione both nodded.

"We'll see you back in the dorm," Harry said, resting his hand on Seamus' shoulder for a moment. "Okay? Stay calm."

Hermione began to walk away from them, feeling a bit sick to her stomach with dread. She just didn't feel right… she was hoping beyond all hopes that the two were fine.

As soon as he'd left the hospital wing Ron sprinted the rest of the way to the Great Hall, not bothering to say anything to any of the passing students who tried to stop him. He had to find Ginny. She had to be all right.

Hermione quickly ran after him, ignoring everyone who tried to talk to her to ask what was the matter with Ron. As she ran closer to the Great Hall, the feeling of sickness got stronger and stronger.

Ron entered the Great Hall. There were fewer students in there than in the hospital wing, mostly Ravenclaws and Slytherins.

"Hey, Weasel, lose something?" a voice drawled to their left.

Hermione ignored Draco and glanced around the Great Hall. "I don't… feel so good," she whispered quietly as she put a hand over her mouth.

"Ah, somebody fetch the Mudblood a basin," he said, eyes glittering maliciously. "You know, I'm a bit angry that you made it out of the raid alive. But no matter, good still came of it, didn't it, Weasel? One less Weasley in the world makes for good populations control. 'S not like your parents could afford all those children anyway."

Hermione growled and turned to Draco. "I will do the same that Ginny did to you if you don't shut your bloody mouth," she said dangerously. No professors were around, and the fact that Ginny could take Draco made Hermione feel a lot more confidant.

He smirked. "You're living on borrowed time, Granger. I'd spend more of it getting something out of your pathetic life if I were you." He turned around and started to make his way out of the Great Hall. "Oh," he said over his shoulder. "The final tally's hanging up in the dorms. Everyone missing and safe is listed. Might want to get used to the idea that your names'll be on it some day. Aren't you just… so proud?" He snorted and walked away, leaving Ron shaking and Harry and Hermione glaring at his back.

She was about ready to launch herself at Draco but felt Harry's hand grip her wrist. She was so angry and wanted to kill him. "Just let me. It'll take me only a minute. Please. I've gotten practice from my father. Just let me…" she said as she tried to pull her wrist away.

"Ron's more important," Harry said. "Right? Let's just… make sure."

After a moment, she gave a nod. "Fine. Once we see that Ginny is fine, I'm going to kill him…" she muttered quietly.

Harry had to grab Ron's arm and steer him to Gryffindor Tower, his whole body shaking and his breath coming in fast pants, with Hermione following worriedly now. He gave his arm a squeeze and Ron glanced down at his hand, slightly calmed but still scared out of his mind.

Hermione soon got to the common room, and quickly walked to the bulletin board. Quickly reading over the safe column, and not finding Ginny's name, she gave a whimper then looked to the missing. As her eyes scanned down the list, they met Ginny's name and she turned back to Ron while shaking some and looking terrified. She couldn't believe that Ginny was missing, but she was more scared over how Ron was going to act. "R-Ron, maybe you should… sit down…" she whispered, glad Harry had stopped Ron close to the couch so just she could look for Ginny's name.

"She's gone, isn't she?" Ron said softly. He sank down onto the couch with an agonized groan. "Oh… oh _God_." He put his head in his hands. "Oh God, oh God."

Hermione slowly sat next to him. "I can't believe this is happening…" Her hand slowly ran over Ron's back, trying to comfort him but she was shaking some so her comfort skills weren't that great at the time.

"She can't be…" Ron muttered over and over again.

Harry sat on his other side, grasping his hand and twining their fingers. He had no idea what to say. He was distraught too. Ginny was like his little sister. He'd saved her once… why not this time? Why were they too late this time?

Hermione couldn't help but feel the tears run down her cheeks. "She's… she's probably going to be fine Ron. Somehow, it's all going to be twisted around and used against…" she suddenly wished she hadn't started talking. But, what else would they do? Either kill them or bribe them. "S-She has to be fine." She couldn't stand it though. Ginny had been almost like her sister, and had been her best girl friend, and she couldn't stand to think of it, but there it was…

They were all saved from having to comment when Neville and Seamus made their way into the dorm followed closely by Dennis Creevy. They spared a look for the trio, but most of their attention was fixed on the list. They made their way to it.

Dennis let out a broken gasp and clutched at Seamus' robes blindly.

Neville just stared and Seamus cursed loudly.

"M-Maybe we should go look… we can sneak out… we can check… she has to be there…" Hermione said softly. But she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to, due to the hopes of Ron that could easily be crushed, and the fact that Ginny could have been under some of the rubble, dead.

"Dumbledore is sending out search teams," Seamus said softly. "So, we should stay put." His voice broke slightly and he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "This is ridiculous. Fuckin' ridiculous."

"Half of us didn't make it back," Neville said softly. "Two sixth year boys and one girl, a handful of third and fourth years and Dennis."

Harry looked up sharply. "Colin's missing?"

His younger brother sniffled and nodded.

"This… Harry, what if they attack again? What if they somehow manage to get into Hogwarts? I mean… we need to do something," Hermione said quietly.

Neville looked at them. "Well… we can't get into trouble this time," he said a bit uncertainly, having thought it over since the attack. "I mean… there's no Umbridge to ban it…" Slowly, he started to think it was a bad idea.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked while looking up at him.

"Er… never mind, it was a stupid idea," he said quickly with a shake of his head.

"No," Harry said. "No, it's not. Tell us."

"Well… we could set up the DA again," he said a bit nervously.

Hermione's eyes widened. "That could work, you know. But… instead of just the Inquisitorial Squad and Umbridge looking out for us, we have almost all of the Slytherins… and probably some of the Ravenclaws."

Neville nodded. "That's why it's a bad idea and I take it back," he said quickly.

"No… it's just…" Hermione looked at Harry, wondering if he would want to do it again. But they would have to be a lot more careful about who were going to be in it this time, and she knew she was going to have to do some curse so no one could even speak of it except to other members.

Harry opened his mouth to agree, but Ron was the one who spoke up. "Let's do it," he said, his voice flat but determined.

Harry nodded. "I think it's a great idea. It could help people in the future… at the very least next time we'll have each other."

Hermione was about ready to say something until two second year students came into the GCR, talking and chatting. "I heard that three of the Weasleys were taken. And, it may just be a rumor, but that Lucius Malfoy is behind this all. If he is… then those Weasleys are as good as de--"

The other friend promptly dragged her friend into their room when Ron's horrified gaze was on them. Hermione couldn't help but whimper. She had forgotten all about Fred and George… with Fred sick, it would have been harder to fend the Death Eaters off or run.

Ron stood up. "I think… I need to be alone," he said weakly. "I'm… I dunno. Oh God, mum and dad… do they know? And Bill and Charlie." He was pale, his freckles standing out like spots of ink on his face, and Harry thought even with his glasses off he would see his thin frame shaking.

"They… they probably know Ron," Hermione could only say slowly as she tried to mask her worry. She didn't know how to comfort him and the words she was trying to say to make him feel better were probably making him feel worse.

"I should be with them," he said helplessly. "Mum'll be hysterical and…" he trailed off.

Harry stood and grabbed his arm. "Let's go to the dorm, all right? You can lie down and we can talk or not talk, whatever you want."

Ron looked at him with wide eyes and then nodded tiredly. "Okay."

Hermione looked at the two of them. "I'll just… go to bed…" she said quietly, feeling a bit like an intruder for some strange reason. "Night," she said quietly and headed towards her room. She wanted to be with them but felt like it was rude, anyways, everything she said was making the situation worse so she didn't deserve to be there exactly, right?

"No," Ron said, grabbing her wrist. "You can come with us."

Seamus watched them all with a searching look. "You can have the dorm to yourselves for a bit if you need to talk," he said. "Neville and I'll stay with Dennis."

The younger teen hadn't let go of Seamus' robes since they'd seen the list and he didn't look like he wanted to be alone. They were all going to spend a bit too much time alone, it seemed. And all of his year-mates were missing besides. He needed them just like Ron needed Hermione and Harry.

Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, then slowly nodded. She looked towards Dennis with a pitying look but felt a lot more sympathy for Ron and she followed the two of them up slowly.

The dorm was just like it had been earlier that morning. They'd warded against House Elves in their sixth year because, as Dean had said, what teenage guy didn't feel more comfortable in a messy room? So a pair of Dean's jeans were on the floor where he'd left them, a series of his collectible football cards were on the drawer between his and Seamus' beds and his books were still thrown on the floor from his tiny tantrum the night before about so much damn homework. And he was gone, now... along with Ginny. It was too much to take in, but Ron wasn't stunned or shocked. He was angry and distraught and scared. He fell onto his bed, watched as Harry closed the door and stared up at the canopy, tears making his vision blurry.

Hermione leaned against the wall as a silence surrounded them. Unlike the rest, this one was comfortable and understanding as their feelings were shared. Tears once again clouded her vision as she stared at the pillow on Ron's bed, not even trying to think of anything to say.

Harry moved to sit on the floor beside the bed, picking up Dean's nightshirt and fingering the material and tipping his head back against the mattress. Ron's arm was flung over the edge of the bed next to him and he watched the long, calloused fingers clench into his palms, a helpless movement.

Hermione finally let herself fall to the ground, leaning against the wall still. She moved some books and then pushed something away that looked like it needed to be washed months ago with a book. "This is so screwed up," she whispered after a moment. For once, she couldn't stop herself from speaking her mind and she knew she was going to have to change her thoughts or it would probably make Ron worse in some way.

"Yeah," Harry breathed.

Ron just made a sound of agreement in the back of his throat.

Hermione slowly moved and leaned against the mattress while letting her head loll back. Her hand slowly moved up to run over Ron's hand gently.

He turned his hand over and twined his fingers with hers, squeezing her hand. "I just want to know if she's okay," he said absently. "I want to know if she's dead or alive or hurt. That's all I want."

She gave a small nod, returning the squeeze gently. "We'll know soon… we'll know." She wanted to promise. She wanted to make him feel better or say anything that would make him feel even the slightest happier, but all she could think of was to try and comfort him the best she could. Maybe it wasn't good enough, but for once, she understood what Ron and Harry always felt about her.

Ron just sighed, his other hand finding its way into Harry's hair and sifting through the strands. "D'you think Dumbledore will talk to us tomorrow?" he asked softly.

"I hope so," Harry answered. "He must know what's going on."

"How could they get away with it? I mean, there must have been so many wizards and witches. And there aren't that many Death Eaters… why couldn't we win? Why couldn't it be s-stopped?" she whispered, replaying the scene in her mind. Now that it was replaying over and over, she could have sworn she saw Ginny and Dean but had paid no attention to it then. Terror had just taken over her and she fled like a coward, at least in her eyes.

"I don't know," Harry said.

"It doesn't make any sense," Ron added. "I mean, how could they do it? Why wasn't someone there to protect us? I thought there were supposed to be Aurors on the look out for these things."

"Maybe… maybe someone wrote a fake letter on the where-abouts of some Death Eaters or Voldemort." It didn't feel scary to say his name anymore; it simply rolled off her tongue like any other word. "If someone had done that, all the Aurors would have gone there…"

"You always trust them, you know? And maybe we aren't so safe. Maybe it's really, really good that we're starting back with the DA," Ron said. "Maybe we'll be able to protect ourselves since they aren't doing a great job of it."

Hermione gave a nod and after a short silence, she looked at the ground. "I think I saw her when I first spotted the Death Eaters. Ginny and Dean. I… I was just completely afraid and didn't notice until now. Maybe if we had done something… we could have gotten them. If I had mentioned it…"

"Nah, they'd have nabbed us," Ron said, tone resigned. "They might have been after Harry anyway… they'd have seen us and that would have been it."

Harry stiffened slightly.

"I don't blame you, though," Ron told him softly. "It's not your fault. Someone should have seen this coming."

Hermione moved her free hand and gripped Harry's, massaging the top of his hand gently while the rest of her fingers twined with his.

He moved suddenly, until he was next to Ron, his body aligned with his. He looked at them solemnly. "We'll be okay," he said. "I'll do everything I can to protect the both of you. I just… I want you to know that."

She gave a soft smile and slowly moved so she was lying on the other side of Ron. The smile was small, and was luckily hiding her sadness.

"I know," Ron said, his hand once again finding its way into Harry's hair. "We'll find them," he added.

"They're my family too. Even Dean and Colin… they're part of my world and I won't let it fall apart. I can't. It's all I've got. You're all I've got," Harry said harshly.

Hermione nuzzled into Ron gently. "The same with me…" she whispered very quietly, trying to forget how she knew all-to-well the dread of a sibling being dead. She hadn't even noticed until now that she was crying and getting Ron's shirt soaked with tears.

He moved his hand out of her grasp to put his arm around her. They lay in silence, Harry snaking his own arm across Ron's body to rub Hermione's shoulder. It was a mutual embrace of comfort and fear and so many different things.

* * *

Before the sun had a chance to creep into the room the next day, Hermione was shaking with another batch of nightmares. Nightmares of her father, nightmares of the raid, nightmares over everything. Clutching blindly at Ron's shirt as tears of fear fell from the horror of her dream, small rambles began to escape her mouth.

Ron and Harry woke up to Hermione's soft whimpers. Shaking their heads slightly to dispel sleepiness, they leaned over her and tried to wake her up.

"It's okay, you're with us, Hermione," Ron said. "You're safe. Wake up. It's just a dream."

She continued to toss and turn, unable to wake up until she had tangled them so badly in the blankets that as she fell to the floor on top of scattered books and random items, and the pressure of two bodies on top of her woke up her with wide eyes.

"Ow," Harry groaned softly before opening his eyes. "You two okay?" he asked.

Hermione rubbed her head and then winced. "Yeah… I'll be fine… if you two just get off of me and I get this book dislodged from my back," she said quietly.

Ron and Harry both rolled off, a bit quickly, getting tangled up in each other's limbs. They lay in a heap at Hermione's feet and Harry groaned again. "Ow."

Slowly, she pushed herself and moved the few books that had been under her back then winced, and groaned as she rubbed the back of her head. "Damn it… sorry," she said almost immediately, figuring it was somehow her fault.

"It's not your fault," Harry said.

"He's not really hurt anyway." Ron told her as they disentangled themselves. "He says 'ow' to any bit of contact this early, like he's hypersensitive or something. Don't try tickling him though, he'll punch you."

Harry laughed. "You deserved it. I was barely awake and your hands were _cold_. Prat."

"Wanker," Ron shot back affectionately.

Hermione smiled then rubbed her head again, sitting on the bed. She was glad was acting as normal as he could now. "My head hurts a lot," she muttered after a second.

"Do we need to go see Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked, concerned.

"No. It's fine," she said quickly. "Perfectly fine. Just hurts… a lot. Too many people are in there already being tended too. Not going to annoy her with another." Her hand didn't leave the back of her head though but she did cast a glare at a certain book, as if she was mad at it.

"I've got a bit of a headache too," Ron said. "Although, I didn't bang mine against anything." He grinned sheepishly at Hermione.

She smiled softly and removed her hand then quickly hid it, wiping it on her clothes.

"I need a shower," Harry announced. "And then we should check on the others. Seamus didn't look so good last night. I've never seen Neville more calm than him of all people."

"Yeah," Hermione said quietly then went to look out the window, wondering if it was still dark out. As she turned her head, she suddenly winced badly and put her hand back to the back of her head, then cursed under her breath.

"What is it?" Ron asked, reaching toward her and grabbing her arm gently.

As he pulled her arm over to him, there was blood on her hand. She tried to yank it away before he saw but sighed.

He looked at and then, without looking at her, yanked her to her feet and marched her out of the dorm with Harry trailing behind. "You're going to go see Madam Pomfrey," he told her. "She'll have time to see you, so don't use that as an excuse. And you're not burdening her. She's used to seeing Harry in there four or five times a year."

Hermione whimpered a bit but followed. "No… I'm fine, Ron!" she said rather quickly. The fact was that the blood was a bit too much to be fine but she really did not want to keep depending on people when she hurt herself.

"No you're not," he said over his shoulder. "So just let us take you to the hospital wing. The sooner you're patched up the sooner we can get dressed, the sooner we find out what the hell's going on."

She sighed and just followed behind him silently, giving up.

The hospital wing had emptied out since the day before. Now only a few of the more serious cases were in the beds and Madam Pomfrey was looking less frazzled. A look that was compromised the minute the three of them walked in. "Oh dear, what is it now?" she asked. "Better sit down, I'll see you right away. What happened?"

Hermione sighed and sat down on a bed. "I'm fine. Ron is just overreacting on a simple c--" she turned her head to look at them a bit too quickly and let out a small hiss of pain, instead of the cry that almost sounded.

Madam Pomfrey gave her a stern look and set about looking her over. "It's not a simple cut," she said finally. "But easily mended. Thank you, boys, for bringing her in," she told them, tapping cleaning the wound and tapping it with her wand. The skin sealed shut and she checked over her work before nodding. "Right, Professor Dumbledore will be addressing the students tonight at dinner. About what happened." Her gaze darkened. "In the meantime," she said, regaining her focus. "Stay _out_ of trouble. And I mean it."

After the cut was healed, she stood. "Do you know if anyone else was found? Or if anyone was sent to St. Mungo's?" She knew that once in a long while, someone would get sent there if their wounds were too bad.

"I can't tell you," she said. "Headmaster's orders. I was advised to make sure all students were given limited information until he could speak to them. But," she added with quick, sidelong glances. "Yes, to both questions. Now off with you."

Hermione looked at Ron and Harry hopefully then followed them out with a quiet, "Thanks." She was trying hard to convince herself that everyone they knew were fine but it was very hard.

Once in the hallways the three shared a look. "Who do you think they found?" Harry asked.

Ron shrugged. "It's anybody's guess, isn't it? We don't know what they were looking for, or who since they couldn't find you. And Dumbledore isn't saying anything. We've got no clues."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something but quickly realized it was probably the worst thing she could have said at the moment and just looked away with a sigh.

Ron sighed. "What should we do? Until dinner, I mean."

Harry had no ideas and said so. But they needed something to occupy their time. The longer they sat still, the more prone they were to thinking. And thinking would only lead to hurting.

Finally Hermione looked away, unable to keep herself quiet. "If they found her, don't you think Dumbledore would have told you, Ron? They would have allowed you to go visit her…" she looked down as soon as she finished saying the sentence. "I mean… just so you don't get your hopes up. I don't want to see them crushed again…"

"I don't know," Ron said. "Don't want to think about it, actually." He made his way down the hall, angry and depressed and scared but mostly trying not to feel any of those things.

She followed silently behind him, gazing at the ground.

They walked in silence all the way to Gryffindor Tower and were assailed almost immediately by Seamus and Neville. "Did you find out anything?" Seamus demanded. "You weren't here when we woke up and so we thought maybe Dumbledore had told you something. Is there any news on Dean? Ginny? Colin?"

"No, no and no," Harry said. "We'll find out at dinner though."

Neville groaned and stalked away, throwing himself into a chair.

"What a load!" Seamus exclaimed, pacing back and forth like a caged lion. "They could at least tell us something. It can't be healthy for us to sit here and wonder and worry. Aren't they thinking about us at _all_?"

"Pomfrey found out that they recovered people and that some are in St. Mungo's," she said softly. "Didn't tell us who. She wasn't allowed."

Seamus let out a growl. "Why? Why are they doing this?"

"It's not 'they'," Harry said softly, going to sit on the couch followed by Ron who plopped down next to him.

"Dumbledore then?" he demanded. "Why? Dennis fell asleep _crying _last night. We all had nightmares, girls woke up screaming, our friends are _missing_ and we have to _wait_ 'till bloody_ dinner_?"

Hermione slowly sat in a chair, pulling her legs under her. "Maybe he's still having people try and find others…" She just didn't have the energy in her to be angry with anyone. Not even at Voldemort at the moment. So she just stared blankly at the wall, feeling a familiar feeling. It was the one that she made herself go into when she was at the house: think nothing, say nothing, do nothing. Her eyes slowly became distant and she let her head rest back against the back of the chair.

Seamus just ranted, pacing back and forth until Dennis made his way into the common room.

"Any news?" he asked hesitantly.

"No!" Seamus snarled before going into another rant that didn't even end with lunch. As the six of them made their way down to the Great Hall, he ranted even more, causing portraits to shush him. He simply flipped them off leaving them scandalized. He did, however, stop when Dennis shoved a roll into his mouth with a sigh.

Hermione grabbed a roll, breaking off small pieces and trying to eat it then finally giving up, as she felt sick to her stomach after just one bite. Knowing she was in a safe, warm room with as much food as she could eat while one of her best friends could have been dead or hurt or in a dank, dark cell somewhere made her feeling about ready to scream, cry, throw up, or maybe just a mix between the three.

The others seemed to feel the same way. They were eating morosely.

Seamus stopped once he'd finished the roll and stayed silent, staring at the table.

Dennis forced down more food than any of them and then had to rush away from the table, holding his stomach.

"What is with Gryffindors these days?" Malfoy drawled from behind them gleefully. "Can't stomach yourselves? Finally feeling as sick to your stomachs when you look in a mirror as we do when we have to look at you ever day?"

Hermione clenched her robes in her lap under the table just so she wouldn't hit him. It was hard to try and stay calm but she was managing.

"Fuck off, Malfoy," Seamus hissed. "What do you know? All your little Slytherin folk got away safely, didn't they? You aren't missing a brother or a sister or a best friend so just _fuck off."_

She quickly busied herself with pretending to be looking at a rip in her robes. She looked up to notice Neville looking actually mad and then quickly looked down and busied herself again.

"Some of us are just born lucky," Draco shot back before turning to Harry with a smile. "Then again, it does pay to be your enemy, doesn't it Potter. The death toll around you is getting rather high. Parents: two; friends of parents: one; random schoolmates: approximately 50. Well, and Cedric. So 51 then."

Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She tackled Draco to the ground, kneeing him in the balls rather quickly. She was pissed and didn't care frankly anymore if she was caught. It wasn't like she could be sent to Azkaban, and no matter how bad she acted, it wasn't like she could be expelled because she had no home to go to anymore so she didn't care.

His piteous whine almost made the onlookers laugh, but they were too pissed and when Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward to hit Hermione, Neville dragged her out of the way and faced them. "Try it," he said. "And see what happens."

Hermione looked at Neville then pulled out her wand, ready to jinx Crabbe and Goyle if they laid even one hand on Neville. She wasn't going to let anyone get hurt because of her and not do anything about it.

"Let's just get out of here," a girl said from behind them. Pansy Parkinson glared at them all, rushed forward to yank Malfoy up, and together the quartet left without a backwards glance.

Neville sat down with a shaky sigh. "I really didn't want to end up in the hospital wing again," he said with a small, relieved smile.

Hermione smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek in only a friendly way, but felt he at least deserved that. "Thank you," she said as she put her wand away. Since she had come back to Hogwarts, everything seemed to anger her so easily and she finally took care of one of the things.

He flushed but nodded. The rest of the lunch period was spent going over, in explicit detail, what had happened, culminating in Dennis doing an incredibly accurate re-enactment of Draco's scream that made all of them laugh.

* * *

How'd you like? I know it was longer… like almost 1500 words longer than normal. Actually, almost 2000 longer than normal. Ah well. Hope you enjoyed!

REVIEW! Or I shall never update again! …who am I kidding? REVIEW ANYWAYS!


	9. Can Corrupted Souls Turn Into Leaders?

Sorry it took so long. Explanation on the bottom!

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As dinner rolled around, Hermione was beginning to dread it more and more. Glancing at the clock, she saw there was fifteen minutes until dinner. The thought that Dumbledore wasn't going to say Dean or Ginny or Colin or anyone else were okay was making her sick to the stomach but she had been able to keep herself in check until she began to think over everything again. "I'll..." she shot up and raced to the bathroom, feeling terrible.

Harry and Ron watched as Hermione rushed to the bathroom and then sighed. Everyone had been feeling queasy and lightheaded. A few younger students had fainted at the tales being told and Ron insisted they were being stupid but Harry couldn't fault them. It had to be scary to have been in a safe place for a month or a year, waiting for a chance to go to Hogsmeade in another year or the next, only to have the students who had gone attacked.

After a few minutes, she came back looking pale and collapsed in a chair shakily with a hand over her stomach. When the sick feeling hadn't left, she grabbed her hairbrush and busied herself in brushing her hair as it was something to do for the remaining 10 minutes.

"I'll brush your hair for you," Ron said, moving behind her. "I used to brush Ginny's all the time." He looked pained at bringing her up, but he was determined to keep himself from trying to push her to the back of her mind. Eventually the pain would become bearable and he did have friends to help with it. He wasn't alone.

"Thanks," she murmured softly and gave her brush to him, not sure what else to say. Everything lately seemed to be questioned before it was said and so she had no clue what to say anymore.

He dragged the brush through her hair, following with his hand to smooth the strands. "What do you think Dumbledore's gonna say?" he asked.

Harry shrugged.

Seamus, from his seat on the sofa, growled. But he didn't start ranting since Dennis had fallen asleep on his lap.

Neville was no where to be found, probably off with Luna, so the common room was relatively empty save the five of them.

"Probably just say who was found," she said with a shrug. "And try and make us feel like everything will be fine." She could have sworn she heard Seamus mutter under his breath, 'like that can be done' but it was so quiet that she ignored it. "I wouldn't be surprised if Malfoy had helped somehow," she said softly and sighed.

"Slimy git," Ron said.

"He's not really capable of it, though. Is he?" Seamus asked. "Always though the prat was all talk no action."

Harry shook his head. "He's changed." Ever since fifth year, in fact. He'd been making veiled threats to kill Harry since they'd met, likening him to his parents and such. But since his father had found his way to Azkaban he'd been different. Meaner and with less of a conscience if that was possible.

"Yeah. He's changed." She frowned then continued on with a sigh. "I bet, more than anything, that his father was the one that was in charge. Well, second in charge." She doubted that Voldemort would let Lucius completely make a plan without him being in charge.

"He might have known though," Ron said. "I mean, he almost always knows, doesn't he?" Which was true. Malfoy always seemed to know either from being told or some sort of strange intuition, he seemed to know and warn them. Well, in his own stupid way that was probably not even on purpose.

Hermione murmured a soft word of agreement, looking at the clock. "I don't... think I want to go to dinner anymore," she said after a small silence. She wanted to but she was afraid of the news that they could hear.

"We have to," Harry said sadly. "Otherwise they'll never tell us."

Just then, Neville walked into the room. "Dinner's about to start," he said, tossing his book bag into a corner of the common room.

"Yeah, we know," Seamus told him before nudging Dennis awake.

She sighed. "Yeah I guess." Slowly, she stood and murmured a small word of thanks to Ron as she waited for Dennis to awaken fully.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Time already?" he asked.

Seamus nodded and stood, hoisting the other boy up with him. "Let's go."

Harry and Ron stood as well and the six of them made their way out of the room.

Hermione just stared at her feet, fighting with herself to not run back to the common room and just have Harry or Ron tell her what Dumbledore said as she walked along.

They filed into the Great Hall, so many missing from their numbers it was ridiculous. The younger Gryffindors huddled closer to them, sitting near them at the table but not too close. No one ever sat too close to Harry Potter. Colin and Dennis had been the first, he realized, to ever treat him like a human being other than his fellow year students.. A famous one, surely, but touchable. One they liked. One they talked to and didn't look at in fear. He remembered how Colin had been so happy to see Dennis his first day at Hogwarts, how he'd been so proud. He bit his lip and stared at the younger boy. He was holding up well, though he thought a lot of that had to do with Seamus who hadn't pushed him away when he'd latched onto him. Still, he wondered what it was like to lose a sibling like Dennis and Ron and Hermione had. He didn't know how much it hurt.

Hermione sat next to Harry and just waited for everyone else to come into the Great Hall. She quickly grabbed Harry's hand, as a futile attempt to calm herself. She gazed around and sighed, then looked up at the staff table, waiting for Dumbledore to speak.

He laced his fingers with hers and they all sat quietly as Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat slightly. "I'll be addressing you all after dinner. However, I do feel this is a conversation best had on a full stomach." And that was it. For at least thirty minutes that would be it.

And Harry had no doubt that the Slytherins would draw the meal out as long as they could just out of spite.

Hermione let out a small groan and just stared down at food on the table, feeling sick to her stomach from the thought of what Dumbledore would say and the smell of the food was making it all worse.

"Are you serious?" Seamus exclaimed loudly. "No way. I'm not eating a damn thing." He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest.

Neville and Dennis shared a look before following his example.

Harry and Ron looked over at them. "What?" he asked.

"I'm not eating while he's sitting up there with news he won't give to me."

Hermione looked over at Seamus, Dennis and Neville. She would have followed their example but didn't know if she could unlace her fingers from Harry's hand. "This isn't right. He's made us wait enough," she said after a moment.

"I know," Harry said. "I'm not eating either."

"Neither am I," Ron said.

Down the table, several other students declared they wouldn't either. All of the Gryffindors had boycotted dinner and a Hufflepuff hissed at them.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

Dennis stood and sat on the edge of the table. "My brother's missing," he said loudly. "And I want to know why. _Now_."

"Our friends and relatives are missing and I don't think we should be stuffing ourself full of food while we have no clue if they're starving or hurt or something else. I mean, it's almost like we're bloody celebrating," Hermione said a bit too loudly and very angrily at the Hufflepuff then flushed just slightly, as if a bit unsure if she should have even been that loud.

The Hufflepuff, a sixth year girl with strawberry blonde hair, looked shocked but another girl stood up.

"My cousin's gone," she said. "I've been sick since it happened; don't expect I'll eat now." And she stood up and walked over to one of the many empty spaces at the Gryffindor table, sitting down by a boy who looked to be a good friend.

Hermione looked up and shot a glare at Dumbledore, completely angered with him for probably the first time. She then looked back to see a few other Hufflepuffs nodding, and walking over to the Gryffindor table and sitting down. All of them had lost a relative and all were boycotting dinner also.

One of the professors cleared their throat and everyone looked up to see Snape gazing down at them before turning to Dumbledore. "I never thought I'd say this, but the Gryffindors, headstrong and un-thinking as always, are right. I've told you I think you should tell them what's going on and you're playing games."

"Severus!" Flitwick said, distinctly outraged.

"These children are suffering and deserve to know why," Snape said harshly. "Even I can see that."

Many of the Gryffindors just stared at Snape with wide eyes, totally surprised. If it had been any other matter, some would have changed their minds right away but, even if it was Snape, they were glad they had at least one teacher on their side.

Dumbledore stared at him sharply, but no one was eating now. Even the Slytherins had put down their forks and spoons to stare at their head of house in shock. So he stood and nodded gravely. "Very well. I was, however, only trying to tell you this gently, not play games."

Snape made a sound but was hushed by a glare from McGonnagal.

Hermione's hand quickly squeezed Harry's as she tried to not be afraid of the news that they would hear. Her hand was shaking slightly though as she stared at Dumbledore.

Harry gave her an encouraging squeeze as Dumbledore began to speak.

"As you are all well aware, Voldemort has begun to wage a war against those who oppose him. If you remember, he returned to power three years ago at which time many refused to believe it. It was, I believe, his plan to manipulate the masses under that particular guise. However, two years ago, he was found out by the Minister himself and, has since, been working under the watchful eyes of all of us. He called the Dementers to his side at which time getting back several Death Eaters that had been placed in Azkaban."

She watched silently, and didn't pay attention to a few people who seemed to be a bit scared by the name 'Voldemort.' Knowing all of this already, she was slightly more calm but still listened intently.

"The Minister did what he thought best at the time of the Dementers turning and the Death Eaters subsequent release, and I cannot fault him for that."

Again Snape made a derisive noise in the back of his throat that was echoed by several other teachers.

"Others have been working to oppose Voldemort's forces and keep you safe as well. Unfortunately, not everything can be anticipated, as was witnessed in Hogsmeade." At this point, everyone was waiting for him to just get on with it, but he paused and looked sadly at the many empty spaces in the Great Hall.

For the first time, Harry noticed that Hagrid was absent and had been for several days.

"In light of recent events, I've renewed my efforts to strengthen the resistance, but I must warn you that dark times are ahead."

Hermione watched him silently, not noticing that Hagrid was missing but she just wanted to hear who was saved and who wasn't. Her hand was once again shaking and she tried to stop it but couldn't so she just let it shake.

"The number of missing students after the attack on Hogsmeade is high," he said. "But several were recovered from various places with injuries ranging from mild to severe." He went on to list off those students being treated in St. Mungo's.

A Hufflepuff burst into tears of relief when her cousin's name was called.

A Ravenclaw boy let out a sharp bark of laughter to hear his best friend was also being treated.

One name that stood out the Gryffindors was that of Colin Creevy who was in a coma but alive and expected to recover.

"Several students who were found have been pulled out of Hogwarts," he said before naming them off. Lavender was the only name that any of the Gryffindors recognized. "The death toll wasn't very high." he said. "But it should be noted that Cornelius Fudge, who was in Hogsmeade at the time, was found dead early this morning."

Hermione lowered her head and covered her mouth when Ginny's or Dean's name hadn't been called. She felt sick as she didn't want to think of what could be happening but the thoughts were still running through her head.

Seamus was as pale as anyone had ever seen him and Ron placed a hand on his shoulder, looking slightly green around the edges. He was trying to be strong, Harry could tell. Until later, he'd be the big brother to anyone who needed it, even if he needed it as much. "All right?" he asked throatily.

The sandy-haired boy shook his head, the movement slight and bit his lip so hard blood stained the enamel of his teeth pink.

Dennis who had been looking relatively happy glanced sideways and started asking after Seamus.

Harry was sure he and Hermione would walk out of this with bruised fingers, but he couldn't bring himself to loosen his hold or let go. It was like a nightmare, one he wanted desperately to wake up from.

Hermione just squeezed Harry's hand harder, trying not to cry but failing terribly. Her fingers were numb but she didn't care as she tried to control herself still. Everything thought of how if she just did something other than freeze and then run when she had seen the Death Eaters and maybe had a small chance of saving Ginny ran through her head.

"Excuse me, Professor," Malfoy said, standing up with a dark look on his face. "But if Fudge is dead, who's going to take over duties as Minister of Magic?"

"There was a unanimous decision made overnight that I was informed of this morning," Dumbledore said, taking a deep breath. "Lucius Malfoy is acting as Minister of Magic until further notice." The rest of the Slytherins looked triumphant but a strange look like fear flitted across Malfoy's features before he sat back down with a small nod and resumed his usual aura of 'holier-than-thou'.

Hermione had looked up just long enough to see the fear in Malfoy's face and she just stared with wonder then the news hit her. _Lucius Malfoy was Minister of Magic. _The faint thought of who would be in charge of catching Voldemort was a follower ran through her mind and she couldn't help but start to cry at the thought of losing Ron or Harry and no one doing anything about it. A few people were staring at her because of her crying so loudly but she didn't care; she just couldn't hold it in. She hadn't cried this hard since she was on the train, and once again, she didn't care that anyone was staring at her.

Harry put his arm around her shoulders and tucked her body against his. "Shhh," he murmured. But he was as scared as she was. Lucius Malfoy couldn't be in charge of anything. Not now. Not with what had happened.

Dumbledore observed them all with sad eyes. "I believe that's enough for tonight. I'll make sure that snacks are sent to your common rooms in case any of you are hungry. I'll keep you informed of any other developments. In the meantime, try not to let fear be a ruling factor in your lives. It is most destructive, fear. And we need unity and bravery to stand strong in the face of all this." And it was over.

Really, Harry thought to himself as Hermione cried into his robes, it was all over.

She continued, clutching at his robes and sobbing into them uncontrollably. Not knowing if she would even be able to walk without falling, she just sat where she was with the tears never seeming to be able to stop.

Everyone had started to file out, except for the remaining seventh year Gryffindors. Dennis had wanted to stay with Seamus, but he'd also wanted to write his family for news about Colin, so Neville told him to go. The other five stayed where the were, Seamus looking like he was about to pass out, anchored only by Ron's hand on his shoulder. Hermione was crying against Harry who was staring at the tabletop morosely and Neville didn't know what to think. He was scared and trying hard to be strong. At any rate, he and Ron were the only two present who weren't completely gone.

"Don't look so scared, little Gryffindors," Pansy Parkinson sneered. They looked up to see her standing, flanked by Blaise Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle.

Malfoy was standing off to the side, looking decidedly disinterested. Like he'd been coerced into letting the others have their fun.

She continued to cry, ignoring Pansy. The sobbing made her lungs and throat burn badly but she still couldn't stop it. She tried many times to push away from Harry but just kept falling back into his robes and weeping.

"God, can you get any more dramatic?" she asked before leaning close to Hermione's trembling form. "Don't be scared, little Mudblood," she whispered into her ear. "I'm sure that we can arrange a quick and painless death for you. You know, if you stop being such a know-it-all. Think you could put your hand down in class for a bit if it earned you a mercy killing?"

Hermione raised her head, feeling angered at Pansy like she was the one who had taken Ginny and everyone else. "F-FUCK OFF!" She yelled suddenly and jumped to her feet, pushing Pansy against a wall with her wand in record time against Pansy's chest, near her heart. "You and every Slytherin deserve to die a slow and painful death! I could so simply do that right now!" The wild look of anger and hatred backed up her boast as she thought over every spell and curse she knew of.

"Stop," Draco said quietly, not even looking at Hermione. "Leave it alone, Pansy. Quit embarrassing yourself. And drop your wand, you jumped-up Mudblood. Though, I'd rather like it if you did kill one of us. Slytherins are supposedly the only ones capable of it, but wouldn't it be poetic if a godly, sainted Gryffindor was the first to kill a student in a century? The stuff books are made of."

Hermione turned around to glare hatefully at Draco and put her wand away, slowly walking over and sitting next to Harry again.

The others were glaring at Malfoy as they filed out of the Great Hall, but it was a really good thing he'd stepped in. None of them had planned on stopping Hermione. Not this time. Possibly not ever again. The world was changing and recent events had made that impossibly clear to them. There was no point in not standing up for themselves. What did House Points matter?

About half a minute after they had all left, Hermione stood. "Well, come on. It does no good to be sulking at a table all day." Her voice was dead and her face showed no emotion, but it was the only way she could get herself to sound and act anywhere near normal.

They all followed her example and stood up as well, making their way to Gryffindor Tower.

She quickly said the password when they got to the common room entrance and ignored the rude comments and questions of the Fat Lady, and then entered. It just felt so empty. Usually on Sunday nights, people were scattered around and finishing up homework or talking about their weekends and what had happened. Now, it was empty as people were either in their rooms and crying or writing their parents back and in the owlery. Everything just felt so empty.

"Maybe you should lie down," Ron told Seamus, who had been leaning heavily against him.

He straightened sharply. "No!" he said loudly. "I'm not going back in there. Not without Dean. I won't set a damn toe inside that room until he's back. I can't."

Hermione winced and looked away. "Then you're going to be sleeping on the couch for a while." It didn't matter; somewhere in each of their minds, they had to have known it and had to have agreed with it, at least slightly.

"Fine! Okay? Fine. I'll sleep in the fuckin' dungeons if I have to but I can't go back in there. Not when the last time I was in there..." He shook his head. "We shouldn't have left them, Neville. Why couldn't they stick with us? What happened?" He sank to the floor near a chair, wrapping his arms around his knees. "It happened so fast. Too fast," he moaned.

"You think you're the only one that feels like shit, Seamus? I saw her but I was too chicken to do anything about it. I saw her get stunned and then taken but all I did was think about myself," she said with anger in her voice. She didn't want herself to feel sad so it was changed into anger, which was just as bad, and in another way, completely worse. Quickly, she regretted saying that as she hadn't told Ron that.

"But she didn't look at you did she?" he demanded. "She wasn't with you nearly the whole time, holding onto your hand like a lifeline, scared and trying to stay calm and wondering out loud if she was going to live or die or see her brothers again. You've still got two of your best friends and mine is gone, so I think I've got a bloody right to get upset. And you know what? It's not like you haven't exercised the exact same right, so back the hell off." He glared at her and then stood up.

"Where are you going?" Neville asked.

"Anywhere but here," he said, storming out of the common room.

She closed her eyes tight and put her face into her palms. She whispered a very quiet, 'sorry' but felt ready to cry.   
"Look, we're all just really high strung right now," Ron said softly. "Let's get some rest and wait for everyone to cool down a bit. Then we can discuss things."  
She raised her head then shook it. "I'm not going to be able to rest..."  
"Me neither," Harry said and Neville nodded sullenly.

"Everything's too horrible," Neville said softly. "I barely slept last night and now... with him running things out there..." he trailed off and shuddered slightly.

Hermione sighed and nodded, trying not to think of anything that was happening but she was failing miserably.

"We'll have to get the DA together as soon as possible," Harry mused. "We can't trust the government anymore, and I don't know what the Order's up to. We have to be prepared."

* * *

Okay, there's a tiny bit more in the file but not enough to make a new chapter. So you'll have to wait until Bridgette finally gets back on for more.

Explanation for why it took like eight days or something? I was waiting for her to get on so I could maybe make this chapter longer but she didn't so it's really short.

So… here you go. Don't know when the next time I'll be updating is. But in hopefully a week's span, maybe less, I'm gonna post a Draco/Harry fic, if you guys care.

Uh… so you read? Review!

…damn that microwave…


	10. Letters Aren't Always Good Things

Sorry it took so bloody long for this chappie. Bridgette got on though

Well… enjoy.

And btw, for the past while, I've only been getting one review for chapter. Please… it isn't that hard to review! Even if you don't like the story! Just press that button, sign in or write in your name and write your comments. It takes about 2-3 minutes, tops and the encouragement will make me write faster (or tell me what I need to fix). Please? ::puppy eyes::

Last thing: I know it's shorter but the next post is like… really long so I decided to cut off early, so you guys could get this chapter. Sorry but yeah, enjoy.

* * *

It had been decided the night before that everyone needed to work on contacting former members of the DA and recruiting new, but only if they were trustworthy.

Neville said he could talk to the Hufflepuffs and Dennis would talk to all those in his year.

That left Seamus, Harry, Hermione and Ron to talk to anyone else. There weren't that many people to contact, really. Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurst were two of the only seventh-year Ravenclaws left, but they said they'd spread the word and Harry trusted them. They were wise and wouldn't allow anyone in who would hurt them.

The night before the first meeting, Harry was anxious about who would show up.

Hermione was sitting at the coffee table, looking over the paper she made in the Gryffindor Common Room. Finally, she crumpled it up and threw it into the fire in anger.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"It's too hard to make this stupid paper," she said as she began to try again. She expected them to know but the fact that she hadn't told them what she was doing yet was still there.

"What're you doing?" he asked, peering at her paper. She'd been working for thirty minutes and had thrown many balls of paper into the fire. He was starting to get curious.

"Trying to make another contract for everyone to sign. This one with better effects," she said as she tried again. Using a special quill and her wand at different moments, she continued to try and make the paper.

"What are they?" he asked. She was always coming up with new and ingenious things. He was looking forward to hearing about it.

"It's quite simple. They just can't talk about it except to other members of the DA, or to people whom Harry, you or me deem as okay to talk to. And I mean they _can't_."

Ron grinned. "Brilliant," he said, kissing her on the cheek. "Have I told you lately you're a goddess?"

Hermione gave a soft smile. "Yeah well, I'll be a goddess if I can actually complete it." She went back to the parchment, writing different spells and charms with the quill that seemed to have no ink on it, and within a matter of seconds, the words had disappeared deep into the paper.

Harry, who had been having mild panic attacks all over the place, looked over at her from where he was lying on the couch. "I hope it works, Hermione," he said. "I don't know if we'll be able to trust everyone at the meeting. Why am I doing this again?"

"Because you need to," she said simply. She continued to write on the paper. "I don't think we should even do DA if I can't get this. I mean… with all the Slytherins and… you guys saw the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! I may be completely off here but I… something has to be up. I heard she wasn't here when… it happened," she said, referring to the raid. "And I heard she was in Azkaban for murder of 10 people but got out because someone proved the court hearing to be corrupt, even though it wasn't." When she was bored, she had researched it.

"Yeah, well, Professor Hardgrave won't be chucked out any sooner than any other corrupt teacher," Ron said darkly. "Look at Moody and Umbridge. Sure, we didn't know Moody wasn't Moody, but still, these people've worked with him for ages. Shouldn't they have known?"

Harry nodded. "I've thought that too," he admitted. "Something's going on, but even if we figure it out all we can do is be prepared to defend ourselves. Dumbledore won't do anything."

Hermione looked at the two of them then looked down at the paper, continuing to write different spells. She worked in silence for about 15 minutes until she suddenly dropped the quill to the table and stared into the fire, trying to remember anything she had to write.

"Bloody slag!" Seamus said loudly as he walked into the common room.

Harry looked over at him and Ron spared him a glance before going back to staring at Hermione raptly.

"What is it?" Harry asked when didn't say anything else.

He stalked over to the couch. "Budge over," he said.

Harry just lifted his legs and with a sigh, Seamus sat down and Harry dropped them into his lap.

"Hardgrave. She gave Dennis a detention for no good reason."

Hermione looked at him then back at the paper. "We have to watch out for her. Probably more than we did for Umbridge." She then suddenly remembered a few more spells and wrote them down rapidly, and seemed to start to write down symbols too.

"Yeah, well, she's a hag," Seamus said. "I mean, Parkinson was yelling at this little Hufflepuff and Dennis stood up to her and who swoops by at that exact moment but her and next thing anyone knows he's doing Merlin knows what for three hours after dinner. Biased cow."

Hermione looked at Seamus again. "I'm pretty sure she's more on the Slytherin's side than Snape is." Then, with an irritated look, went back to writing.

"Snapes changed though, hasn't he?" Seamus said. "Since You-Know-Who came back he's been quieter. Still hates you though," he said with an apologetic look at Harry who shrugged.

"He hates my dad vicariously through me," he said with a smirk. "You get used to it after six years."

Hermione smiled slightly and after about 5 more minutes, she sat back with a smirk. "Done." The parchment was still blank though.

Ron stared at it. "Seriously? That's it? You go through all that and it just… is? What does it do? When we sign it I mean."

She smiled softly. She grabbed her wand and tapped it twice then said, "I am Hermione Granger and swear I hate Voldemort." The parchment slowly seeped with ink, forming words that read what it would do. "It will only work if you, Harry or I say our names and the rest of the spell, so that means even if anyone finds it, they think it's a simple piece of paper. Anyone who signs it can not speak of the DA except around members, and they will not be able to speak unless it is only members around in a 50 foot radius, even if the speaker knows or not. That's what took so bloody long."

Ron smiled at her. "You're brilliant," he said. "And this is perfect."

Harry nodded. "We couldn't do anything without you, Hermione," he said.

Hermione grinned a bit. "I know. But, if anyone destroys it, I _will_ kill them. No matter who it is." She tapped it again and said, "My work is managed," and the words quickly disappeared.

"No one would dare touch anything you've made," Ron assured her. "Not after what happened to Cho Chang's friend fifth year." He grinned fondly in remembrance before frowning. "That cow. Who did she think she was?"

Hermione sighed. "At least nothing that bad happened." Which she was right. It could have been a lot worse, as Harry could have been expelled or captured by the Ministry, as so many things had gone insane that year.

Harry shot her a look but was interrupted when Neville walked into the Common Room.

"Has anyone else noticed anything different about Malfoy?" Neville asked once they'd gotten near enough to the Trio that they didn't have to shout.

She gave a small nod then furrowed her brow in confusion as she remembered the dinner. "When he heard his… father was Minister, he looked… I don't know but almost scared." The words threatened to tangle themselves up when she had spoken them, as she could still not believe that a Malfoy was in charge of them.

Neville frowned. "Don't know why he would be. He should be over the moon about it."

Seamus stood, seeming to forget his anger and walked over, then clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't try to fathom how a Malfoy's mind works," he said. "You'll just get a headache."

Neville gave a small nod. "Watcha working on Hermione?" he asked after a moment, changing subjects easily and peering over her shoulder.

She looked up at him with a small smile, as she was still confused with the Malfoy situation. "It's a contract for the DA. One so no one can say anything about it, except to other members when non-members aren't near them."

Seamus nodded. "Right. That's good. I dunno. Some of these people who want to join seem a bit off so this is necessary for our well-being."

Neville nodded his agreement and then, with a small smile and a wave, made his way up to the dorm room to work on a herbology assignment.

She quickly rolled the parchment up and put it into her bag. After a moment, she got herself interested in buttoning her bag closed then opening it again, and kept repeating it as she thought over everything.

Seamus made his way over to the sofa and pushed Harry's feet out of the way to sit down. "I overheard Flitwick talking," he said, rolling his eyes when Harry put his feet back up, this time in his lap.

"'Bout what?" Hermione asked as she snapped out of her stupor and was able to notice everything around her again.

Seamus shrugged. "I dunno. He squealed and fell over the minute he saw me. But I managed to catch something about Lucius Malfoy and some new policies he's put out. They're supposed to be all official now he's Minister of Magic."

"This isn't good. How can a follower be Minister of Magic?" she asked then sighed. "And there has to be a reason Draco looked so worried." By the tone of her voice, she was thinking about not saying more of her thoughts.

Ron nodded. "Something's up."

"Maybe… well, I suppose we'll just have to keep an eye out," Harry said. "Once the DA's been set up and is stable we can think about taking action."

She gave a nod. "I'm really scared though," she murmured after a second. She could remember during their sixth year, when she had come back from a terrible Christmas thanks to the fact of her father hurting her after she accidentally broke a plate, Draco had looked worse than she did. He had been bruised very badly, and had been quiet for a week then had brought the torment and insults onto the three of them worse than ever. "I don't know why but…" she trailed off, shaking her head a bit.

Harry and Ron looked over at her.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. It's sort of stupid," she murmured and looked away, but feeling their eyes on her, she sighed. "Maybe it's just… I'm looking too into my own life but I think I may know why Malfoy looked afraid in the Great Hall."

Harry frowned. "You don't think… Lucius Malfoy abuses him?" he said softly.

"That's exactly what I think." She took a shaky breath. "Whatever. I'm probably wrong. It's just… remember last year after Christmas when I came back, claiming I fell down some stairs?" She looked down at her hands, finding one of her fingers very interesting. "Remember that he looked worse than I did, and how quiet he was? Just the way he acted and talked, it was like he was afraid he was going to be beaten." She knew it all too well and bit her lower lip hard to try to control her emotions.

Ron nodded. "I remember…" he said. "Yeah. And if he's the Minister of Magic now it'll be worse for him, won't it? No hope of anyone caring."

"Exactly." She sighed. "I… sort of feel sorry for him if it's true." Even though it was probably the last thing she'd ever think she would feel, she did feel sorry for him.

Harry nodded slowly. "Yeah… nobody deserves that. Not even Malfoy."

Not even Seamus and Ron could argue, so they all just sat in silence, thinking and wondering.

After a moment, she looked at everyone else. "Can we talk about something, anything?" Her eyes were filled with a few different emotions and she was trying to control herself from remembering things, and the silence wasn't helping.

"Well," Seamus said. "We could always complain about classes," he suggested.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh softly. "We do that anyways. So… I don't think so."

Seamus opened his mouth to suggest another topic but didn't have a chance because a third year girl named Sarah had flown into the Common Room.

"Fight! There was just a fight!" she shrieked. "It was so awesome! Dennis was completely cornered by these two Slytherins and they were beating him up and then this other guy told them to stop and said something mean to Dennis and he went crazy and attacked all three of them!"

Hermione's eyes widened and she just stared at Sarah, barely believing.

Seamus stood up so fast that Harry fell off the couch and would have glared at him if he'd been there to glare at. Instead he was standing in front of Sarah asking what had happened.

Hermione was still sitting in front of the coffee table and gave a small yelp as Harry fell on top of her. She glared at him then looked up at Sarah and Seamus, listening.

"What're you talking about?" he demanded.

Sarah shrugged. "Just like I said. Dennis got into this huge fight with these Slytherins. He's okay, but Hardgrave's put him in detention for two weeks."

Her eyes widened. "Two weeks? Shit." Quickly, she made a mental note to stay away from Hardgrave as much as possible so she had barely any chance to get detentions.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. She'd have given more but everyone knew it wasn't _really_ Dennis' fault."

Seamus growled something and then asked where he was.

"Hospital wing," she answered.

He nodded and took off.

Harry and Ron shared a look with Hermione. This behavior was pretty common anymore with the sandy-haired teen. Anything that involved Dennis was worth putting all else on the back-burner and rushing to his side.

Hermione just sighed and moved out from under Harry, then stood. "Maybe we should go too," she said softly, but wasn't entirely sure as she almost felt like she would have been invading Seamus' and Dennis' personal space.

"D'you really think we should follow him?" Ron asked slowly. None of them really felt comfortable about it. There was a way the two interacted that made them feel like an intruder even in a crowded room.

She was silent for a moment. "To be truthful, no," she then said, so instead the trio made their way up to the dorm.

Neville was sprawled out on his bed, scrawling something onto a piece of parchment when they walked in.

Hermione walked into the room and sat on Harry's bed lightly, looking around a bit bored.

A small breeze blew through the room as a window was open, and then suddenly Hedwig flew into the room. She was flying very badly, like a wing was broken and fell onto Harry's bed. Once snow white colored feathers were now filled with dirt and stuck together badly with blood. She held out her leg for Hermione to take the letter attached to it but fell over from weakness and she looked like she had lost weight, as the last time she had eaten was a few days prior when Harry had let her out for some exercise.

Ron cursed and Harry, speechless, rushed to his bed. He knelt beside it and stroked her dirty feathers gently.

"Can I do something?" Neville asked from somewhere off to their right.

"Yeah… get help for her, please," Harry breathed softly, wincing when Hedwig shuddered involuntarily.

Hermione quickly removed the letter with wide eyes as Hedwig tried once again to get someone to take the letter, as if it was important. She paled considerably as she noticed it read 'To Ron' in blood and she gave it to him, wondering what it was but she knew it would be rude if she read it.

Ron's hand shook when he saw it. "What…" he trailed off and bit his lip, opening it and heaving a shaky breath.

* * *

There you go! Now, I can NOT believe how much we've done. This makes the story hitting the 40,000 word mark! I've never had a story this long! And it's all thanks to Bridgette ::nodnod::

New chapter may be up soon, may not be. I'll try for sooner than later!


	11. Chapter XI

OH MY GOD! O.O I am so sorry!!! Bridgette is a senior so she's really busy and so am I and the two hour time zone difference doesn't help... ugh.

BTW, for those of you who don't know, this is a role play. That means that Bridgette is a few characters (mainly Ron and Harry), and I am others (mainly Hermione). If she doesn't get on, or I don't get on, neither of us can just randomly write this because we need the other characters in here. We do this over AIM, and if she's not on, or she gets on at like 10 her time which is 12 mine on weekdays and really late on weekends, I can not stay up and RP with her so none gets done. It's a double effort here, and we'll try our hardest to get more done sooner.

Well... here it is. It may be somewhat bad (on my part) and there may be mistakes but I really wanted to post this, so ignore anything that may be in little (()) things or what not. -.-"

Oh yeah. There will be no more naming a chapter, because it takes too much effort on my part and I'm just lazy too so... yeah. From now on, chapter 11 will be: Chapter XI and stuff. I love Roman Numerals, so deal with it.

* * *

The letter read: 

_Ron, _

_I managed to find some paper to write on, and Hedwig got me a quill or stick or something... can't really see that well. Oh well; it works, right? Since there was no ink, my body is numb from pain anyways, and I think bleeding, I just used my own blood. Again, it works. I wanted you to read this first, so maybe you can calm down Mum beforehand. We're down here in some dank and dark cell. There's about 20 kids in each cell... and if I'm not correct, Hagrid has his own across from us but he's in darkness in what I think are shackles. He wakes up sometimes and tries to escape, thrashing around in the darkness just well enough that we can see him but they have fun hurting him until he passes out from pain. We get food every few days, and it's usually something rotten or leftovers. Anyone that's too sick to move, they continuously pester and make them do things that is hard to do for a perfectly okay person, and when they can't do it, the Death Eaters use the Cruciatus curse on them over and over. It's sickening to watch your friends and former classmates lying there, screaming in pain... _

_There's good and bad news, so I guess I'll give you the good first. Ginny, me and George are all alive. One person has been killed though – some Hufflepuff bloke who was beaten to death when he tried to protect his sick sister from having to do something. I don't know what it was but I have a thought and... just, I'm not going to let that happen to innocent Ginny. I think it's happened to a few girls. The prettier ones are taken, screaming and crying but everyone's too scared to protect them. It's mostly 'protect your family members and yourself but be too scared to stand up for your friends', then they are thrown back, lifeless and bleeding from everywhere. But here's the bad news... or the worse news. That small cold that I had before they captured us, it has gotten worse and I can barely move. It hurts to breathe, I don't eat or I throw it right back up, and it's so bloody hot down here. Everyone else is complaining how cold it is but it feels like it's a hundred and fifty degrees. _

_George always puts up a fight when Malfoy (who finds it the most fun to torment us but has stopped coming lately, thankfully) wants me to do something insane. Can't remember what some were. I can't remember much of anything anymore. He can barely do it, as he hasn't been eating and barely drinking. And he's failed quite a few times, and Malfoy had the most fun beating him. So most of the time, he's just huddled in a corner near me as he tries not to breathe too hard for his broken bones to hurt more but not too soft so he passes out. It's hard to tell anything we're doing anymore. After the first few days, everyone went from crying and yelling to silent. So bloody silent... it's deafening, if that makes sense. _

_I don't think we're ever going to get out of here. They have Death Eaters patrolling 24 hours a day, but thankfully, Parvati did something down at the other end of the hall to attract attention so I can write out this letter quickly. _

_But Ginny's the one I'm mostly worried about. Since we came here, she's been huddled in a corner away from us. She never speaks to us unless I talk about the family, but even then, it's just a simple word or two when it should be a sentence, but lately, it's just been a nod or shake of the head. She's been clinging to Dean though, and starts to cry whenever he walks only a few feet away. Every night, she sleeps against his chest and will only eat or drink if he brings her something. I was expecting her to cling to George or me but she seems to be scared by us. When George tries to get close, she always whimpers and backs away and when I come close, she flinches but talks. I think it's because when he could actually move without pain, he never stopped yelling at every Death Eater and had this wild look of anger that I've never seen before. It scared me, and I'm guessing it scared Ginny even more. But it's still scaring me. Her mental state is really worsening. When I mentioned Bill's name yesterday, she seemed like she didn't even know who he was. Luckily, Dean is holding up probably the best out of all of us. Maybe it's because he's stronger, or maybe it's because he knows Ginny needs him. Whatever it is, it's a good thing he's here or Ginny would have been totally messed up._

_I think they're going to see Hedwig when she leaves, so I'll send her at night. I really hope she's okay by the time you get this (if you get this)._

_You don't know how lucky you are. You have friends there that will die for you, something that George and I don't have. Sure, we have friends but not as good friends as you have. Don't ever forget that. And you have a nice, warm bed and food... It's sort of funny. George brings me to get better, and then it slowly leads to my death. Doesn't life suck? All I know is that I miss the feel of the sun waking me up and the warmth of the blankets against my skin and I miss George as he seems to be slowly drifting away. I just want to feel again. I want to be able to breathe again and actually be glad I took the breath..._

_Fred_

_P.S. Tell Harry that no matter what Voldemort gets his henchmen to say, not to hand himself over. They'll never let us go. Not the way they treat us. They're having fun with hurting us, too much fun. We're going to die one way or another, and don't let him ever believe this is his fault, because it isn't. And I think I should know who I want to be angry with, since two of my siblings, some of my old friends, and I are never going to see the light of day again._

_P.P.S I guess I'll see you when I see you. Tell Mum and Dad that we miss them and we are glad for everything they've ever done (even if Mum has been a bit of a perfectionist who enjoys yelling), and we are proud of you Ron, no matter how much we tormented you throughout the years. You're going to go on to do great things, and it would stay the same even if you weren't friends with Harry. Tell Bill and Charlie thanks for everything, even if they had fun tormenting us more than we tormented you, and Percy... just... I don't even know anymore. A short time ago, I wanted him dead for hurting Mum and the family like he did but now... just if he cares, tell him that I'm disappointed in him but I don't hate him. Only way I could hate him if he were one of these bastards that have fun slowly killing and breaking us. _

Ron read over it, and collapsed to his knees. "Oh god," he whispered quietly as he stared at the paper.

Hermione ran to Ron's side, about ready to ask what was wrong until her eyes saw the blood on the paper and quickly scanned over it. When they got to the bottom, tears were filling them and she could barely even notice that she was clutching Ron's left arm rather tightly.

Harry took one look at the two of them and then took the letter for himself, cursing loudly enough to make Hermione jump.

Ron didn't hear though. He didn't seem to be able to even sense them there. He was, Harry thought, going into shock.

The cursing was enough to bring her back to reality and notice that something was wrong with Ron. More wrong, at least, then how he should have been acting. "Ron?" she asked a bit unevenly as she took her hands off of his arm to take his face in her hands.

His eyes were blank, completely glossed over.

Harry knelt next to Hermione and winced when he saw how pale his friend was, freckles standing out so starkly in his face it looked like patches of blood-blisters were smattered over his nose and across his cheekbones.

"Ron!" When she saw the worry in Harry's eyes, she couldn't help but begin to shake slightly in fear but kept saying Ron's name over and over, not knowing what else to do. She was still taking in the letter so it was much harder to think of anything rational.

He didn't respond, just kept his gaze trained on nothing and was still; rigid and barely breathing.

Harry bit his lip. "What do we do?" he asked.

"I don't know," she barely managed out as she resisted the urge to cry. He was scaring her worse than she had been in a long time, even worse than when the raid had happened.

"Dumbledore... we should go to him. Or Snape or McGonnagal or somebody," he said. "But I'm scared to leave him alone."

"You go. Get somebody. I'll stay," she responded as she slipped her arms around Ron's waist and pulled him into a hug, trying to do anything to get him to snap out of it. Burying her face into the spot where his shoulder and neck met, she couldn't help but start to cry while attempting to whisper things into his ear that may help.

Harry wouldn't know quite how he managed to get his legs to work. Or how he turned his back on Ron and Hermione and rushed toward Dumbledore's office. He wouldn't know how he fielded off Seamus and Neville and Dennis and several others with as many questions as he himself had. He wouldn't know what he said when he caught Snape in the hall to get him to rush toward Gryffindor tower. He was in a haze... he didn't see anything clearly or in color. All he saw, all he'd ever remember seeing, was red.

When Snape and Harry had returned, Hermione nearly gave a cry of relief. Being scared of out her mind wasn't helping her think very clearly, and nothing she seemed to do was helping Ron.

"What's going on?" Snape asked.

Harry watched as Hermione handed him the letter with shaky hands and looked away when the potions professor read through it.

"He... make him respond! Snap him out of it or something!" she said as she stayed on her spot on the floor next to Ron. "Please!" she said almost desperately.

Snape blinked and looked, for the first time since Harry'd ever met him, at a complete loss. "What happened to him?" he asked slowly.

"He just... read over it and then didn't respond and I think he's in shock," she responded and looked at Ron, who seemed almost as if he was paler than before.

It didn't look like the dark-haired man knew what to do, but then, neither did Harry and Hermione. They stared at him for what seemed like ten minutes but was only a few seconds before he dropped to his knees in front of Ron and put his hands on the boy's shoulders.

Watching the teacher who seemed to know little as they did about what to do didn't help her. And she just stared at Ron while thinking about anything that could help, but not one idea came to mind, so she just leaned forward and started to say anything that came to mind, so quietly that Ron would be the only one who could hear. "Please, Ron. We need you here. Please... Be okay. I love you so much and I don't think I can go on without you."

Ron's eyelids fluttered slightly but he disappeared back into himself as soon as he responded.

Part of it, Harry realized, was that several students were rushing up the stairs. "They can't come in here!" he whispered urgently to Hermione.

Hermione glanced at the door then to Snape. "Keep them out!" Normally, she would have felt terrible in bossing a teacher out but asking and waiting for an answer would have taken time they didn't have.

He didn't argue, just nodded and left the room.

They could hear his oily voice wafting toward them, but Harry didn't care what he was saying. He was too worried about Ron. "Come on," he whispered. "You've got to be okay. You've got to. We'll handle this but..." he trailed off and cursed violently, looking away.

After becoming as silent as Ron for a few seconds, she looked at Harry. "Kiss him," she said in such a simplistic manner that it almost seemed she was joking. "He almost snapped out of it when I said all the other stuff. Do something to prove that we care about him."

Harry blinked at her. "Herm..." but she just looked pointedly at him. He looked back down into Ron's deadened eyes and would do anything to bring his best friend back. He didn't have a lot of experience, and he could count on one hand the number of kisses he'd given or received that had been memorable in a good way, but this time it came so naturally. He tipped his friend's face toward his, brushed his thumbs over Ron's cheekbones and feathered his fingertips over the slightly parted lips. Then he kissed him, softly and gently.

In any other situation, she would have been compelled to watch. Even then, she was interested and watched silently, blaming it on wondering how Ron would react but it was then that she realized how much she had missed in her life.

Harry didn't think it had worked. He moved to pull away but Ron's arms came up and he framed the dark-haired boy's face with his hands and kissed him back with a whimper.

Rather quickly, she felt as if she were intruding but watched anyways, more than joyed that Ron had responded. It just looked so right to her and she bit her lower lip so she wouldn't let out a small moan that wanted nothing more than to sound.

It was really the most peculiar thing. Harry was sitting in the middle of his dorm, kissing his male best friend and being kissed back voraciously and it felt right somehow. Like a natural progression of the comfort and love they'd always offered one another.

Hermione watched silently and stopped biting her lip as she had to so hard that it was ready to break, and a small moan escaped them. It was true that she had always imagined them together but this somehow was better than any fantasy in Potions or before going to bed could be.

The moment was shattered in the next moment.

Snape swept into the room, mouth open, saying something about how he'd gotten rid of the nosy little Gryffindors but he stopped short at the sight of the two boys in the middle of the floor.

She almost had a want to laugh at the situation but turned her head, looking at the Potions master. "H-Hello. We got... Ron to respond," she said quickly before the other two would even have a chance to search for the right words.

Snape swallowed hard and then nodded. "Right... well then... I think that we're going to have to have a meeting in the Great Hall to inform the other students of what's going on," he said haltingly.

She simply nodded, then looked to her best friends silently. Not for the first time, she wished that Snape wasn't a teacher there, so they would have been interrupted.

* * *

The first meeting of DA in over a year had started. Within the Room of Requirement, now with multiple locks on the doors and spells to keep certain people out, people slowly entered and sat around on the cushions.

A boy of what appeared to be sixteen and a Ravenclaw suddenly entered, dragging two girls behind him. He didn't notice the stares settled on him, but knew they were there. Grabbing a seat towards the back of the room, he pulled the older of the two girls into his lap and the other next to him.

"I don't want to be here," the older girl complained who went by the name of Gaia. A hood covered her face but because of the patch on her robes, it was clear both her and the other girl, Jasmine, were in Slytherin.

"I know you don't but you need to be," the boy, Sean, said simply.

"Why?" Jasmine asked. It was rather clear why – many bruises covered her face, along with cuts that were barely healed.

"This," he pointed to Jasmine's face, "and this," he said then pulled the hood off Gaia's face. The older girl was much worse than her sister and the two sighed.

"I hate you," Gaia said at once.

"I love you too," he responded in such a way that it was clear he was both her boyfriend and was used to getting those 'threats' all the time. It wasn't long before he noticed Harry staring at him and grinned a bit timidly at the raven–haired boy.

Harry surveyed the group. He recognized a few of the people there.

Seamus and Dennis were sitting in a corner with Neville nearby. Ron and Hermione were behind him and a few other random sixth and seventh years were in the room from other houses.

They'd all signed up and were now all looking up at him with varied looks – some small smiles, some wide eyes begging for help or truth or something to make it better.

Hermione looked back at the Slytherins, almost unsure of trusting them. But the papers were signed, and they couldn't tell anyone. Small thoughts of how the spells could have been cast wrong ran through her mind but she just looked back at Harry.

He took a deep breath. "We're all here for the same reason," he started. "To be able to protect ourselves. With everything that's happened this is more important than ever. If we want to stand a chance of making it out of this war alive we have to be able to hold our own in a battle."

Pulling her knees to her chest, she listened.

The two Slytherins in the back, the only two that had came, sat quietly also and listened, almost caring about what Harry had to say. From everything they had heard, the boy was insane and annoying, but he just seemed so normal and almost a bit scared of being in front of people that the two relaxed.

"We'll start with easy spells, disarming, stunning, things like that. They're effective and you can't move on to harder spells if you haven't mastered the basics." He looked around at them all. "This is extremely serious," he said. "We've seen what happens, the kind of rules they play by. Anything that'll help us should be taken into consideration and we have to be ready for anything."

A few students looked about ready to complain about learning the basics, but after Harry finished, only a few looked slightly skeptical.

Gaia almost looked ready to say something rather rude after Harry said the part about the rules, but went quiet when her sister pinched her rather painfully. Unlike the others, the two knew many things about the Death Eaters and even about Voldemort, but kept quiet just so they wouldn't get into trouble – not with Harry, but with their parents.

Harry looked around at all of them and then nodded. "All right, get to work. We'll start with stunning spells but we won't spend too much time on them. If I see a group who should keep practicing I'll let them know, otherwise we'll move on in twenty minutes."

Everyone stood and split into groups with either a friend or sibling. Hermione paired with Ron, and Gaia paired with her sister.

In less than five minutes, Jasmine had stunned Gaia too many times and the latter was getting mad. "Stop it!" she yelled and sent, without even meaning to, a powerful curse similar to the Cruciatus Curse at her, causing the younger girl to fall to the ground and gasp in pain.

Hermione looked over at the pair and her eyes widened as she saw tears come to the younger girl's face.

Harry, who had been nodding in approval at Neville's technique heard Hermione call his name and turned. What he saw made him sick. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?!" he yelled, rushing over with a muttered 'Accio wand'. He caught it in midair as Jasmine rolled over onto her back and Gaia glared at him.

Gaia counted quietly under her breath, and when she counted to zero, Jasmine gasped as the pain was removed.

"I couldn't help it! I didn't mean to!" Gaia shouted and glared. "Whatever. I shouldn't even be explaining to you..."

"Stop it," her sister said to Gaia as she stood slowly, but the girl ignored her, glaring at Harry.

Hermione sighed. Of course a Slytherin would act this way... So much for getting help from every house, she thought.

"You couldn't help it?" Harry repeated incredulously. "Well, you'd better learn how to help it. I can't allow you to stay here if I have to worry about you cursing someone when you get angry because you 'can't help it'." He turned to the rest of the students. "That goes for all of you. I'm not doing this for fun. I'm doing this because we need to learn to work together if we want to survive and aside from learning a useful hex or two, it means learning to cooperate and to reign in our tempers. I'm not going to babysit you. I don't have time." He offered Gaia a final glare. "Now get back to work," he said coldly.

Gaia grumbled curses under her breath, trying to remain calm and went back to working with her sister.

Hermione sighed, then looked at Harry. Seeing that the two weren't watching, she mouthed, "Put up with her. They're the only Slytherins we have here," then went back to working with Ron.

Harry didn't need Hermione to tell him that, not really. It wasn't even about Slytherin vs Gryffindor anymore. This was too serious a problem to deal with separated. But the fact that she'd just cursed her own sister into a quivering mass of pain at her feet couldn't be ignored either. He frowned, tugging on his ear. He'd need help with them. But he didn't know who to ask.

* * *

There's like one more line from me but this is a good place to leave off, I think. So... REVIEW! Please? And once again, I'm SO sorry for taking FOREVER to update this but me being a freshman and her being a senior means a shit load of work for each of us and... ugh. ::trotts off to learn first 36 elements for Chemistry::

And if I haven't stressed it enough, REVIEW!


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